
Book_ -W5O4 _ 



/77A 



1^0 ^^'' 



WA YLAND'S 



DISCOURSES. 



OCCASIONAL 



DISCOURSES, 



I5CLUDI5G 



SEVERAL NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED. 



FRANXIS WAYLAND, 



PRESIDENT OF BROWN U >' I V E R S I T Y. 




. / 



BOSTON: 

PUBLISHED BY JAMES LORLXG. 

1833. 

c/ 



£)XG333 



Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1833, 

BY JAMES LORING, 
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 



TO 

MY PARENTS, 

THE REV. FRANCIS WAYLAND, 

AND 

MRS. SARAH WAYLAND, 

OF SARATOGA SPRINGS, N. Y. 

THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED 

AS AN EXPRESSION OF GRATITUDE, 
BY THEIR SON, 

THE AUTHOR. 



CONTENTS. 



The Moral Dignity of the Missionary Enter- 
prise : A Discourse delivered before the Boston 
Baptist Foreign Mission Society, on the Evening of 
October 26, 1823, 9 

The Duties of an American Citizen : Two Dis- 
courses delivered in the First Baptist Meeting House 
in Boston, on Thursday, April 7, 1825 ; the Day of 
Public Fast, 40 

The Death of the Ex-Presidents, July 4, 1826: 
A Discourse delivered in the First Baptist Meeting 
House in Boston, the week following their decease, . 80 

The Certain Triumph of the Redeemer: A Dis- 
course delivered in the Murray Street Church, New 
York, on the Evening of May 9, 1830, 98 

Encouragements to Religious Effort: A Dis- 
course delivered in Philadelphia, at the Request of the 
American Sunday School Union, May 25, 1830, . . 132 

The Moral Efficacy of the Doctrine of the 
Atonement : A Discourse delivered on the Evening 
of February 3, 1831, in the First Baptist Meeting 
House in Boston, at the Installation of the Rev. 
William Hague, 167 



CONTENTS. 

Elevated Attainments in Piety Essential to a 
Successful Study of the Scriptures: A Dis- 
course delivered in the Oliver Street Meeting House, 
New York, on the Evening of December 17, 1832, at 
the Ordination of Mr. William R. Williams, .... 195 

The Abuse of the Imagination, 218 

Motives to Beneficence : A Discourse delivered in 
the Old South Church, Boston, before the Howard 
Benevolent Society, 236 

Objections to the Doctrine of Christ Crucified 
considered : A Discourse Delivered in Portland, at 
the Ordination of the Rev. John S. Maginnis, Sep- 
tember 27, 1832, 263 

Discourse on Education: An Introductory Address 
delivered in Boston, before the Convention of Teach- 
ers, and other Friends of Education, assembled to 
form the American Institute of Instruction, August 
19, 1830, 292 

The Philosophy of Analogy: A Discourse delivered 
before the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Rhode Island, 
September 7, 1831, 319 

Address on Temperance : An Address delivered 
before the Providence Association for the Promotion 
ofTemperance, October 20, 1831, 344 



MORAL DIGNITY 



MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 



MATTHEW XIII. 38. 

THE FIEIiD IS THE WORLD. 

Philosophers have speculated much concerning 
a process of sensation, which has commonly been 
denominated the emotion of sublimity. Aware that, 
like any other simple feeling, it must be incapable of 
definition, they have seldom attempted to define it; 
but, content with remarking the occasions on which it 
is excited, have told us that it arises, in general, from 
the contemplation of whatever is vast in nature, 
splendid in intellect, or lofty in morals. Or, to 
express the same idea somewhat varied, in the 
language of a critic of antiquity,^ '' that alone is truly 
sublime, of which the conception is vast, the effect 
irresistible, and the remembrance scarcely if ever to 
be erased." 

*Longinus, Sec. VII. 



10 THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 

But although philosophers only have written about 
this emotion, they are far from being the only men 
who have felt it. The untutored peasant, when he 
has seen the autumnal tempest collecting between the 
hills, and, as it advanced, enveloping in misty obscurity, 
village and hamlet, forest and meadow, has tasted the 
sublime in all its reality ; and, whilst the thunder has 
rolled and the lightning flashed around him, has 
exulted in the view of nature moving forth in her 
majesty. The untaught sailor boy, listlessly hearken- 
ing to the idle ripple of the midnight wave, when on 
a sudden he has thought upon the unfathomable 
abyss beneath him, and the wide waste of waters 
around him, and the infinite expanse above him, has 
enjoyed to the full the emotion of sublimity, whilsi 
his inmost soul has trembled at the vastness of its 
own conceptions. But why need I multiply illustra- 
tions from nature ? Who does not recollect the 
emotion he has felt, whilst surveying aught, in the 
material world, of terror or of vastness ? 

And this sensation is not produced by grandeur in 
material objects alone. It is also excited on most of 
those occasions in which we see man tasking, to the 
uttermost, the energies of his intellectual or moral 
nature. Through the long lapse of centuries, who, 
without emotion, has read of Lf.onidas and his three 
hundred's throwing themselves as a barrier before the 
myriads of Xerxes, and contending unto death for the 
liberties of Greece ! 

But we need not turn to classic story to find all 
that is great in human action ; we find it in our own 
times and in the history of our own country. Who 



THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. H 

is there of us that even in the nursery has not felt his 
spirit stir within him, when with child-like wonder he 
has listened to the story of Washington ? And 
although the terms of the narrative were scarcely 
intelligible, yet the young soul kindled at the thought 
of one man's working out the deliverance of a nation. 
And as our understanding, strengthened by age, was 
at last able to grasp the detail of this transaction, we 
saw that our infantile conceptions had fallen far short 
of its grandeur. O ! if an American citizen ever exults 
in the contemplation of all that is sublime in human 
enterprise, it is when, bringing to rnind the men who 
first conceived the idea of this nation's independence, 
he beholds them estimating the power of her oppressor, 
the resources of her citizens, deciding in their collected 
might that this nation should be free, and through the 
long years of trial that ensued, never blenching from 
their purpose, but freely redeeming the pledge which 
they had given, to consecrate to it, '' their lives, their 
fortunes, and their sacred honor." 

" Patriots have toil'd, and in their country's cause 
Bled nobly, and their deeds, as they deserve, 
Receive proud recompense. We give in charge 
Their names to the sweet lyre. The historic muse, 
Proud of her treasure, marches with it down 
To latest times 3 and sculpture in her turn 
Gives bond, in stone and ever-during brass. 
To guard them and immortaliz;e her trust.'? 

It is not in the field of patriotism only that deeds 
have been achieved to which history has awarded the 
palm of moral sublimity. There have lived men, in 
whom the name of patriot has been merged in that of 
philanthropist 5 who, looking with an eye of compassion 



12 THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 

over the face of the earth, have felt for the miseries 
of our race, and have put forth their cahn might to 
wipe off one blot from the marred and stained 
escutcheon of human nature ; to strike off one form of 
suffering from the catalogue of human wo. Such a 
man was Howard. Surveying our world, like a spirit 
of the blessed, he beheld the misery of the captive, 
he heard the groaning of the prisoner. His determi- 
nation was fixed. He resolved, single handed, to 
gauge and to measure one form of unpitied, unheeded 
wretchedness, and, bringing it out to the sunshine of 
public observation, to work its utter extermination. 
And he well knew what this undertaking would cost 
him. He knew what he had to hazard from the 
infection of dungeons, to endure from the fatigues of 
inhospitable travel, and to brook from the insolence of 
legalized oppression. He knew that he was devoting 
himself upon the altar of philanthropy, and he willingly 
devoted himself. He had marked out his destiny, 
and he hastened forward to its accomplishment, with 
an intensity " which the nature of the human mind 
forbade to be more, and the character of the individual 
forbade to be less."* Thus he commenced a new 
era in the history of benevolence. And hence the name 
of Howard will be associated with all that is sublime 
in mercy, until the final consummation of all things. 

Such a man is Clarkson, who, looking abroad, 
beheld the sufferings of Africa, and, looking at home, 
saw his country stained with her blood. We have 
seen him, laying aside the vestments of the priesthood, 
consecrate himself to the holy purpose of rescuing a 

* Foster's Essay. 



THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 13 

continent from rapine and murder, and of erasing this 
one sin from the book of his nation's iniquities. We 
have seen him and his fellow philanthropists for twenty- 
years never waver from their purpose. We have 
seen them persevere amidst neglect, and obloquy, and 
contempt, and persecution, until the cry of the op- 
pressed, having roused the sensibilities of the nation, 
the " Island Empress" rose in her might, and said to 
this foul traffic in human flesh. Thus far shalt thou 
come, and no farther. 

It will not be doubted that in such actions as these, 
there is much which may be truly called the moral 
sublime. If, then, we should attentively consider 
them, we might perhaps ascertain what must be the 
elements of that enterprise, which may lay claim to 
this high appellation. It cannot be expected that on 
this occasion, we should analyze them critically. It 
will, however, we think, be found, upon examination, 
that to that enterprise alone has been awarded the 
meed of sublimity, of which the object was vast, the 
ACCOMPLISHMENT arduous, and the means to be 
employed simple but efficient. Were not the object 
vast, it could not arrest our attention. Were not its 
accomplishment arduous, none of the nobler energies 
of man being tasked in its execution, we should see 
nothing to admire. Were not the means to that 
accomplishment simple, our whole conception being 
vague, the impression would be feeble. Were they 
not efficient, the intensest exertion could only terminate 
in failure and disgrace. 

And here we may remark, that wherever these 
elements have combined in any undertaking, public 
2^ 



14 THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 

sentiiiient has generally united in pronouncing it 
sublime, and history has recorded its achievements 
among the noblest proofs of the dignity of man. 
Malice may for a while have frowned, and interest 
opposed ; men who could neither grasp what was vast, 
nor feel what was morally great, may have ridiculed. 
But all this has soon passed away. Human nature is 
not to be changed by the opposition of interest or the 
laugh of folly. There is still enough of dignity in 
man to respect what is great, and to venerate what is 
benevolent. The cause of man has at last gained the 
suffrages of man. It has advanced steadily onward, 
and left ridicule to wonder at the impotence of its shaft, 
and malice to weep over the inefficacy of its hate. 

And w^e bless God that it is so. It is cheering to 
observe, that amidst so much that is debasing, there is 
still something that is ennobling in the character of 
man. It is delightful to know, that there are times 
when his morally bedimmed eye ''beams keen with 
honor ;" that there is yet a redeeming spirit whhin 
him, which exults in enterprises of great pith and 
moment. We love our race the better for every such 
fact we discover concerning it, and bow with more 
reverence to the dignity of human nature. We 
rejoice that, shattered as has been the edifice, there 
yet may be discovered, now and then, a massive pillar, 
and, here and there, a well turned arch, which remind 
us of the symmetry of its former proportions, and the 
perfection of its original structure. 

Having paid this our honest tribute to the dignity of 
man, we must pause, to lament over somewhat which 
reminds us of any thing other than his dignity. 



THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 15 

Whilst the general assertion is true, that he is awake 
to all that is sublime in nature, and much that is 
sublime in morals, there is reason to believe that there 
is a single class of objects, whose contemplation thrills 
all heaven with rapture, at which he can gaze unmelted 
and unmoved. The pen of inspiration has recorded, 
that the cross of Christ, whose mysteries the angels 
desire to look into, was to the tasteful and erudite 
Greek, foolishness. And we fear that cases very 
analogous to this may be witnessed at the present day. 
But why, my hearers, should it be so ? Why should 
so vast a dissimilarity of moral taste exist between 
seraphs who bow before the throne, and men who 
dwell upon the footstool ? Why is it, that the man, 
whose soul swells with ecstacy whilst viewing the 
innumerable suns of midnight, feels no emotion of 
sublimity, when thinking of their Creator ? Why is it, 
that an enterprise of patriotism presents itself to his 
imagination beaming with celestial beauty, whilst the 
enterprise of redeeming love is without form or come- 
liness ? Why should the noblest undertaking of 
mercy, if it only combine among its essential elements 
the distinctive principles of the gospel, become at once 
stale, flat, and unprofitable ? When there is joy in 
heaven over one sinner that repenteth, why is it that 
the enterprise of proclaiming peace on earth, and 
good will to man, fraught, as it would seem, with more 
than angelic benignity, should to many of our fellow 
men appear worthy of nothing better than neglect or 
obloquy ? 

The reason for all this we shall not on this occasion 
pretend to assign. We have time only to express our 



16 THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 

reo-ret that such should be the fact. Confining our- 
selves therefore to the bearing which this moral bias 
has upon the missionary cause, it is with pain we are 
obliged to believe, that there is a large and most 
respectable portion of our fellow citizens, for many of 
whom we entertain every sentiment of personal esteem, 
and to whose opinions on most other subjects we bow 
with unfeigned deference, who look with perfect apathy 
upon the present system of exertions for evangelizing 
the heathen ; and we have been greatly misinformed, 
if there be not another, though a very different class, 
who consider these exertions a subject for ridicule. 
Perhaps it may tend somewhat to arouse the apathy 
of the one party, as well as to moderate the contempt 
of the other, if we can show that this very missionary 
cause combines within itself the elements of all that is 
sublime m human purpose, nay, combines them in a 
loftier perfection than any other enterprise, which was 
ever linked with the destinies of man. To show this, 
will be our design ; and in prosecuting it, we shall 
direct your attention to the grandeur of the object; 
the ARDUOusNEss OF ITS EXECUTION; and the nature 
of the means on which we rely for success. 

1st. The grandeur of the object. In the 
most enlarged sense of the terms. The Field is the 
World, Our design is radically to affect the temporal 
and eternal interests of the whole race of man. We 
have surveyed this field, statistically^ and find, that of 
the eight hundred millions who inhabit our globe, but 
two hundred millions have any knowledge of the 
religion of Jesus Christ Of these we are willing to 
allow that but one half are his real disciples, and that 



THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 17 

therefore there are seven of the eight hundred millions 
to whom the gospel must be sent. 

We have surveyed this field, geographically. We 
have looked upon our own continent, and have seen 
that, with the exception of a narrow strip of thinly 
settled country, from the Gulf of St. Lawrence, to the 
mouth of the Mississippi, the whole of this new world 
lieth in wickedness. Hordes of ruthless savages roam 
the wilderness of the West, and men almost as ignorant 
of the spirit of the gospel, are struggling for independ- 
ence in the South. 

We have looked over Europe, and beheld there 
one nation putting forth her energies in the cause of 
evangelizing the world. We have looked for another 
such nation ; but it is not to be found. A few others 
are beginning to awake. Most of them, however, yet 
slumber. Many are themselves in need of missionaries. 
Nay, we know not but that the movement of the cause 
of man, in Europe, is at present retrograde. There 
seems too evidently a coalition formed of the powers 
that be, to check the progress of moral and intellect- 
ual improvement, and to rivet again on the human 
mind the manacles of papal superstition. God only 
knows how soon the re-action will commence, which 
shall shake the continent to its centre, scatter thrones 
and sceptres, and all the insignia of prescriptive author- 
ity, hke the dust of the summer's threshing floor, and 
establish, throughout the Christian world, representa- 
tive governments, on the broad basis of common sense 
and inalienable right. 

We have looked over Africa, and have seen that 
upon one little portion, reclaimed from brutal idolatry 



18 THE MISSIONARY EX TEK PRISE. 

by missionaries, the Sun of Righteousness hath shined. 
It is a land of Goshen, where they hav^e light in their 
dwellings. Upon all the remainder of this vast conti- 
nent, there broods a moral darkness, impervious as 
that which once veiled her own Egypt, on that pro- 
longed and fearful night when no man knew his 
brother. 

We have looked upon Asia, and have seen its 
northern nations, though under the government of a 
Christian prince, scarcely nominally Christian. On 
the west, it is spell-bound by Mahommedan delusion. 
To the south, from the Persian gulf, to the sea of 
Kamschalka, including also its numberless islands, 
except where here and there a Syrian church, or a 
missionary station twinkles amidst the gloom ; the 
whole of this immense portion of the human race is 
sitting in the region and shadow of death. Such then 
is the field for our exertion. It encircles the whole 
family of man, it includes every unevangelized being 
of the species to which we belong. We have thus 
surveyed the missionary field, that we may know how 
great is the undertaking to wdiich we stand committed. 

We have also made an estimate of the miseries of 
this w^orld. We have seen how in many places the 
human mind, shackled by ignorance and enfeebled by 
vice, has dwindled almost to the standard of a brute. 
Our indignation has kindled at hearing of men, im- 
mortal as ourselves, bowing down and worshipping a 
wandering beggar, or paying adoration to reptiles and 
to stones. 

Not only is intellect, every where, under the domin- 
ion of idolatry, prostrated 3 beyond the boundaries of 



THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 19 

Christendom, on every side, the dark places of the 
earth are filled with the habitations of cruelty. We 
have mourned over the savage ferocity of the Indians 
of our western wilderness. We have turned to Africa, 
and seen almost the whole continent a prey to lawless 
banditti, or else bowing down in the most revolting 
idolatry. We have descended along her coast, and 
beheld villages burnt or depopulated, fields laid waste, 
and her people, who have escaped destruction, naked 
and famishing, flee to their forests at the sight of a 
stranger. We have asked. What fearful visitation of 
Heaven has laid these settlements in ruins ? What 
destroying pestilence has swept over this land, con- 
signing to oblivion almost its entire population? What 
mean the smoking ruins of so many habitations? 
And why is yon fresh sod crimsoned and slippery with 
the traces of recent murder ? We have been pointed 
to the dark slave-ship hovering over her coast, and 
have been told that two hundred thousand defenceless 
beings are annually stolen away, to be murdered on 
their passage, or consigned for life to a captivity more 
terrible than death ! 

We have turned to Asia, and beheld how the demon 
of her idolatry has worse than debased, has brutalized 
the mind of man. Every where his despotism has 
been grievous ; here, with merciless tyraimy, he has 
exulted in the misery of his victims. He has rent 
from the human heart all that was endearing in the 
charities of life. He has taught the mother to tear 
away the infant as it smiled in her bosom, and cast it, 
a shrieking prey, to contending alligators. He has 
taught the son to light the funeral pile, and to witness, 



20 THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 

unmoved, the dying agonies of his widowed, murdered 
mother ! 

We have looked upon all this ; and our object is, 
to purify the whole earth from these abominations. 
Our object will not have been accomplished till the 
tomahawk shall be buried forever, and the tree of 
peace spread its broad branches from the Atlantic to 
the Pacific ; until a thousand smiling villages shall be 
reflected from the waves of the Missouri, and the 
distant valleys of the West echo with the song of the 
reaper ; till the wilderness and the solitary place shall 
have been glad for us, and the desert has rejoiced and 
blossomed as the rose. 

Our labors are not to cease, until the last slave-ship 
shall have visited the coast of Africa, and, the nations 
of Europe and America having long since redressed 
her aggravated wrongs, Ethiopia, from the Mediterra- 
nean to the Cape, shall have stretched forth her hand 
unto God. 

How changed will then be the face of Asia ! 
Bramins and sooders and castes and shasters will have 
passed away, like the mist which rolls up the moun- 
tain's side before the rising glories of a summer's 
morning, while the land on which it rested, shining 
forth in all its loveliness, shall, from its numberless 
habitations, send forth the high praises of God and the 
Lamb. The Hindoo mother will gaze upon her 
infant with the same tenderness which throbs in the 
breast of any one of you who now hears me, and the 
Hindoo son will pour into the wounded bosom of his 
widowed parent, the oil of peace and consolation. 

In a word, point us to the loveliest village that 



THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 21 

smiles upon a New-England landscape, and compare 
it with the filthiness and brutality of a CafFrarian kraal, 
and w^e tell you that our object is to render that 
CafFrarian kraal as happy and as gladsome as that 
New-England village. Point us to the spot on the 
face of the earth where liberty is best understood and 
most perfectly enjoyed, where intellect shoots forth in 
its richest luxuriance, and where all the kindlier 
feelings of the heart are constantly seen in their most 
graceful exercise ; point us to the loveliest and happi- 
est neighborhood in the world on which we dwell ; 
and we tell you that our object is to render this whole 
earth, with all its nations, and kindreds, and tongues, 
and people, as happy, nay, happier than that neigh- 
borhood. 

We have considered these beings as immortal, and 
candidates for an eternity of happiness or misery. 
And we cannot avoid the belief that they are exposed 
to eternal misery. Here, you will observe, the 
question with us is not, whether a heathen, unlearned 
in the gospel, can be saved. We are willing to admit 
that he can. But, if he be saved, he must possess 
holiness of heart ; for, without holiness, no man shall 
see the Lord. And where shall we find holy heathen ? 
Where is there the vestige of purity of heart among 
unevangelized nations ? It is in vain to talk about 
the innocence of these children of nature. It is in 
vain to tell us of their graceful mythology. Their 
gods are such as lust makes welcome. Of their very 
religious services, it is a shame even to speak. To 
settle the question concerning their future destiny, it 
would only seem necessary to ask, What would be 
3 



22 I'HE MISSIONARY E N TER PRI S li. 

the character of that future state, in which those 
principles of heart which the whole history of the 
heathen world develops, were suffered to operate in 
their unrestrained malignity? 

No ! solemn as is the thought, we do believe, that, 
dying in their present state, they will be exposed to 
all that is awful in the wrath of Almighty God. And 
we do believe that God so loved the world, that he 
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth 
on him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 
Our object is to convey to those who are perishing 
the news of this salvation. It is to furnish every 
family upon the face of the whole earth with the word 
of God written in its own language, and to send to 
every neighborhood a preacher of the cross of Christ. 
Our object will not be accomplished, until every idol 
temple shall have been utterly abolished, and a temple 
to Jehovah erected in its room ; until this earth, 
instead of being a theatre on which immortal beings 
are preparing by crime for eternal condemnation, 
shall become one universal temple, in which the 
children of men are learning the anthems of the 
blessed above, and becoming meet to join the general 
assem.bly and church of the first-born, whose names 
are written in heaven. Our design will not be 
completed, until 

" One song employs all nations, and all cry 
Worthy the Lamb, for he was slain for us ; 
The dwellers in the vales, and on the rocks, 
Shout to each other, and the mountain tops 
From distant mountains catch tlie flying joy; 
Till, nation after nation taught the strain, 
Earth rolls the rapturous hosanna round." 



THE MISSIONxlRY ENTERPRISE. 23 

The object of the missionary enterprise embraces 
every child of Adam. It is vast as the race to whom 
its operations are of necessity limited. It would 
confer upon every individual on earth, all that intel- 
lectual or moral cultivation can bestow. It would 
rescue a world from the indignation and wrath, 
tribulation and anguish, reserved for every son of man 
that doeth evil, and give it a title to glory, honor, and 
immortality. You. see, then, that our object is, not 
only to affect every individual of the species, but to 
affect him in the momentous extremes of infinite 
happiness and infinite wo. And now we ask. What 
object ever undertaken by man can be compared with 
this same design of evangelizing the world ? Patriot- 
ism itself fades away before it, and acknowledges the 
supremacy of an enterprise, w^hich seizes, with so 
strong a grasp, upon both the temporal and eternal 
destinies of the whole family of man. 

But all this is not to be accomplished without 
laborious exertion. Hence we remark, 

2d. The missionary undertaking is arduous 

ENOUGH to call INTO ACTION THE NOBLEST ENER- 
GIES OF MAN. 

Its arduousness is explained in one word, our 
Field is the World, Our object is to effect an entire 
moral revolution in the ivhole human race. Its ardu-^ 
ousness, then, results of necessity from its magnitude, 

I need not say to an audience acquainted with the 
nature of the human mind, that a large moral mass is 
not easily and permanently affected. A little leaven 
does not soon leaven the whole lump. To produce a 
change even of speculative opinion upon a single 



24 THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 

nation, is an undertaking not easily accomplished. In 
the case before us, not a nation, but a world, is to be 
regenerated; therefore, the change which we would 
effect is far from being merely speculative. If any 
man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Nothing 
short of this new creation will answer our purpose. 
We go forth, not to persuade men to turn from one 
idol to another, but to turn universally from idols to 
serve the living God. We call upon those who are 
earthly, sensual, devilish, to set their affections on 
things above. We go forth exhorting men to forsake 
every cherished lust, and present themselves a living 
sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God. And this 
mighty moral revolution is to be effected, not in a 
family, a tribe, or a nation, but in a world which lieth 
in wickedness. 

We have to operate upon a race divided into 
different nations, speaking a thousand different lan- 
guages, under every different form of government, 
from absolute inertness to unbridled tyranny, and 
inhabiting every district of country, salubrious or 
deadly, from the equator to ihe poles. To all these 
nations must the gospel be sent, into all these languages 
must the Bible be translated, to all these climes, 
salubrious or deadly, must the missionary penetrate, 
and under all these forms of government, mild or 
despotic, must he preach Christ and him crucified. 

Besides, we shall frequently interfere with the more 
sordid interests of man ; and we expect him to increase 
the difficulties of our undertaking. If we can turn 
the heathen to God, many a source of unholy traffick 
will be dried up, and many a convenience of unhal- 



THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 25 

lowed gratification taken away. And hence we may 
expect that the traffickers in human flesh, the disciples 
of mammon, and the devotees of pleasure, will be 
against us. From the heathen themselves we have 
the blackest darkness of ignorance to dispel. We 
have to assault systems venerable for their antiquity, 
and interwoven with every thing that is proud in a 
nation's history. Above all, we have to oppose the 
depravity of the human heart, grown still more invete- 
rate by ages of continuance in unrestrained iniquity. 
In a word, we go forth to urge upon a w^orld, dead in 
trespasses and sins, a thorough renewal of heart, and 
a universal reformation of practice. 

Brief as is this view of the difficulties which 
surround us, and time will not allow us to state them 
more in detail, you see that our undertaking is, as we 
said, arduous enough to task to the uttermost the 
noblest energies of man. 

This enterprise requires consummate wisdom in the 
missionary who goes abroad, as well as in those who 
manage the concerns of a society at home. He who 
goes forth unprotected, to preach Christ to despotic 
or badly governed nations, must be wise as a serpent, 
and harmless as a dove. With undeviating firmness 
in every thing essential, he must combine the most 
yielding facility in all that is unimportant. And thus, 
while he goes forth in the spirit and power of Elias, 
he must at the same time become all things to all 
men, that by all means he may gain some. Great 
abilities are also required in him who conducts the 
mission at home. He must awaken, animate, and 
direct the sentiments of a very large portion of the 
3^ 



26 THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 

commuDity ia which he resides, whilst at the same 
lime, through a hundred different agents, he is exert- 
ing a powerful influence upon half as many nations, a 
thousand or ten thousand miles off. Indeed it is 
hazarding nothing to predict, that if efforts for the 
extension of the gospel continue to multiply with their 
present ratio of increase, as great abilities will, in a 
few years, be required for transacting the business of 
a missionary society, as for conducting the affairs of a 
political cabinet. 

The missionary undertaking calls for perseverance; 
a perseverance of that character, which, having once 
formed its purpose, never wavers from it till death. 
And if ever this attribute has been so exhibited as to 
challenge the respect of every man of feeling, it has 
been in such instances as are recorded in the history 
of the missions to Greenland and to the South Sea 
Islands, where we beheld men, for fifteen or twenty 
years, suffer every thing but martyrdom, and then, 
seeing no fruit from their labor, resolve to labor on 
till death, if so be they might at last save one benighted 
heathen from the error of his ways. 

This undertaking calls for self denial of the highest 
and holiest character. He who engages in it must, 
at the very outset, dismiss every wish to stipulate for 
any thing but the mere favor of God. His first act 
is a voluntary exile from all that a refined education 
loves ; and every other act must be in unison with 
this. The salvation of the heathen is the object for 
which he sacrifices, and is willing to sacrifice, every 
thing that the heart clings to on earth. For this 
object he would live ; for this he would die ; nay, he 



i 



THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 27 

would live any where, and die any how, if so be he 
might rescue one soul from everlasting wo. 

Hence you see that this undertaking requires 
courage. It is not the courage which, wrought up by 
the stimulus of popular applause, can rush, now and 
then, upon the cannon's mouth ; it is the courage 
which, alone and unapplauded, will, year after year, look 
death, every moment, in the face, and never shrink 
from its purpose. It is a principle which will " make 
a man intrepidly dare every thing which can attack or 
oppose him within the whole sphere of mortality, retain 
his purpose unshaken amidst the ruins of the world, 
and press towards his object while death is impending 
over him.""^ Such was the spirit which spake by 
the mouth of an Apostle when he said, And now I go 
bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the 
things which shall befal me there ; save that the Holy 
Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and 
afflictions abide me. Yet none of these things move 
me ; neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that 
I may finish my course with joy, and the ministry 
which I have received of the Lord Jesus. 

But, above all, the missionary undertaking requires 
faith, in its holiest and sublimest exercise. And let 
it not be supposed that we speak at random, when we 
mention the sublimity of faith. '' Whatever," says 
the British moralist, '^ withdraws us from the power 
of the senses; whatever makes the past, the distant, 
or the future predominate over the present, advances 
us in the dignity of thinking beings."f And when 

* Foster. f Tour to the Hebrides. lona. 



28 THE MISSIONARY EXTER PRISE. 

we speak of faiih, we refer to a principle which gives 
substance to things hoped for, and evidence to things 
not seen ; which, bending her keen glance on the 
eternal weight of glory, makes it a constant motive to 
holy enterprise ; which, fixing her eagle eye upon the 
infinite of future, makes it bear right well upon the 
purposes of to-day ; a principle which enables a poor 
feeble tenant of the dust to take strong hold upon the 
perfections of Jehovah ; and, fastening his hopes to 
the very throne of the Eternal, '' bid earth roll, nor 
feel its idle whirl." This principle is the unfailing 
support of the missionary through the long years of 
his toilsome pilgrimage ; and, when he is compared 
with the heroes of this world, it is peculiar to him. 
By as much then as the Christian enterprise calls into 
being this one principle, the noblest that can attach to 
the character of a creature, by so much does its 
execution surpass in sublimity every other. 

3d. Let us consider the means by which this 

MORAL REVOLUTION IS TO BE EFFECTED. It is, in a 

word, by the preaching of Jesus Christ and him 
crucified. It is by going forth and telling the lost 
children of men, that God so loved the world, that he 
gave his only begotten Son to die for them ; and by 
all the eloquence of such an appeal to entreat them, 
for Christ's sake, to be reconciled unto God. This 
is the lever by which, we believe, the moral universe 
is to be raised ; this is the instrument by which a 
sinful world is to be regenerated. 

And consider the commanding simplicity of this 
means, devised by Omniscience to effect a purpose so 
glorious. This world is to be restored to more than 



THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 29 

it lost by the fall, by the simple annunciation of the 
love of God in Christ Jesus. Here we behold means 
apparently the weakest, employed to ejffect the most 
magnificent of purposes. And how plainly does this 
bespeak the agency of the omnipotent God ! The 
means which effect his greatest purposes in the king- 
dom of nature, are simple and unostentatious ; while 
those which man employs are complicated and tumul- 
tuous. How many intellects are tasked, how many 
hands are wearied, how many arts exhausted, in pre- 
paring for the event of a single battle ; and how great 
is the tumult of the moment of decision ! In all this, 
man only imitates the inferior agents of nature. The 
autumnal tempest, whose sphere of action is limited 
to a little spot upon our little world, comes forth 
attended by the roar of thunder and the flash of 
lightning ; while the attraction of gravitation, that 
stupendous force w^hich binds together the mighty 
masses of the material universe, acts silently. In the 
sublimest of natural transactions, the greatest result is 
ascribed to the simplest, the most unique of causes. 
He spake and it was done ; he commanded and it 
stood fast. 

Contemplate the benevolence of these means. In 
practice, the precepts of the gospel may be summed 
up in the single command, Thou shalt love the Lord 
thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself. 
We expect to teach one man obedience to this com- 
mand, and that he will feel obliged to teach his 
neighbor, who will feel obliged to teach others, who 
are again to become teachers, until the whole world 
shall be peopled with one family of brethren, Ani- 



30 THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 

inosity is to be done away, by inculcating, universally, 
the obligation of love. In this manner, we expect to 
teach rulers justice, and subjects submission ; to open 
the heart of the miser, and unloose the grasp of the 
oppressor. It is thus we expect the time to be 
hastened onward when men shall beat their swords 
into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; 
when nations shall no more lift up sword against nation, 
neither shall they learn war any more. 

With this process, compare the means by which 
men, on the principles of this world, effect a meliora- 
tion in the condition of their species. Their almost 
universal agent is, threatened or inflicted misery. 
And, from the nature of the case, it cannot be other- 
wise. Without altering the disposition of the heart, 
they only attempt to control its exercise. And they 
must control it, by showing their power to make the 
indulgence of that disposition the source of more 
misery than happiness. Hence, when men confer a 
benefit upon a portion of their brethren, it is generally 
preceded by a protracted struggle to decide which 
can inflict most, or which can suffer longest. Hence, 
the arm of the patriot is generally, and, of necessity, 
bathed in blood. Hence, with the shouts of victory 
from the nation which he has delivered, there arises 
also the sigh of the widow, and the wail of the orphan. 
Man produces good, by the apprehension or the 
infliction of evil. The gospel produces good, by the 
universal diffusion of the principles of benevolence. 
In the former case, one party must generally suffer; 
in the latter, all parties are certainly more happy. 
The one, like the mountain torrent, may fertilize, 



THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 31 

now and then, a valley beneath, but not until it has 
wildly swept away the forest above, and disfigured the 
lovely landscape with many an unseemly scar. Not 
so the other ; 

" It droppeth as the gentle rain from heavdri 
Upon the place beneath ; it is twice blessed, 
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes." 

Consider the efficacy of these means. The reasons 
which teach us to rely upon them with confidence 
may be thus briefly stated. 

1. We see that all which is really terri*fic in the 
misery of man results from the disease of his moral 
nature. If this can be healed, man may be restored 
to happiness. Now the gospel of Jesus Christ is the 
remedy devised by Omniscience specifically for this 
purpose, and therefore we do certainly know that it 
will inevitably succeed. 

2. It is easy to be seen, that the universal obedi- 
ence to the command. Thou shalt love the Lord thy 
God with all thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself, 
would make this world a heaven. But nothing other 
than the gospel of Christ can persuade men to this 
obedience. Reason cannot do it; philosophy cannot 
do it ; civilization cannot do it. The cross of Christ 
alone has power to bend the stubborn will to obedi- 
ence, and to melt the frozen heart to love. For, said 
one who had experienced its efficacy, the love of 
Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if 
one died for all, then were all dead ; and that he died 
for all, that they which live should not live to 
themselves, but unto Him who died for them, and 
rose again. 



32 THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 

3. The preaching of the cross of Christ is a 
remedy for the miseries of the fall which has been 
tried by the experience of eighteen hundred years, 
and has never in a single instance failed. Its efficacy 
has been proved by human beings of all ages, from 
the lisping infant to the sinner a hundred years old. 
All climates have witnessed its power. From the ice- 
bound cliffs of Greenland to the banks of the voluptu- 
ous Ganges, the simple story of Christ crucified has 
turned men from darkness to light, and from the 
power of Satan unto God. Its effect has been the 
same with men of the most dissimilar conditions; 
from the abandoned inhabitant of Newgate, to the 
dweller in the palaces of kings. It has been equally 
sovereign amidst the scattered inhabitants of the forest 
and the crowded population of the metropolis. Every 
where and at all times, it has been the power of God 
unto salvation to every one that belleveth. 

4. And lastly, we know from the word of the 
living God, that it will be successful, until this whole 
world has been redeemed from the effects of man's 
first disobedience. As truly as I live, saith Jehovah, 
all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. 
Ask of me, saith he to his Son, and I will give thee 
the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost 
parts of the earth for thy possession. In the Revela- 
tion which he gave to his servant John of things which 
should shortly come to pass ; I heard, said the Apostle, 
great voices in heaven, saying. The kingdoms of this 
world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of 
his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. 
Here then is the ground of our unwavering confidence. 



THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 33 

heaven and earth shall pass away, but one jot or one 
tittle shall in no wise pass from the word of God, until 
all be fulfilled. Such, then, are the means on which 
we rely for the accomplishment of our object, and 
such the grounds upon which we rest our confidence 
of success. 

And now, my hearers, deliberately consider the 
nature of the missionary enterprise. Reflect upon 
the dignity of its object ; the high moral and intellec- 
tual powers which are to be called forth in its execu- 
tion ; the simplicity, benevolence, and efficacy of the 
means by which all this is to be achieved ; and, we 
ask you, does not every other enterprise to which man 
ever put forth his strength dwindle into insignificance, 
before that of preaching Christ crucified to a lost and 
perishing world ? 

Engaged in such an object, and supported by such 
assurances, you may readily suppose, we can very 
well bear the contempt of those who would point at 
us the finger of scorn. It is written, In the last days 
there shall be scoffers. We regret that it should be 
so. We regret that men should oppose an enterprise, 
of which the chief object is, to turn sinners unto holiness. 
We pity them, and we will pray for them ^ for we 
consider their situation far other than enviable. We 
recollect that it was once said by the Divine Mission- 
ary, to the first band which he commissioned, He that 
despiseth you, despiseth me, and he that despiseth me, 
despiseth him that sent me. So that this very con- 
tempt may at last involve them in a controversy 
infinitely more serious than they at present anticipate. 
The reviler of missions, and the missionary of the 
4 



34 THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 

cross, must both stand before the judgment seat of 
Him who said, Go ye into all the world, and preach 
the gospel to every creature. It is affecting to think, 
that whilst the one, surrounded by the nation, which, 
through his instrumentality, has been rescued from 
everlasting death, shall receive the plaudit. Well done, 
good and faithful servant ; the other may be numbered 
with those despisers who wonder and perish. O that 
they might know, even in this their day, the things 
which belong to their peace, before they are hidden 
from their eyes ! 

You can also easily perceive how it is that we are 
not soon disheartened by those who tell us of the 
difficulties, nay, the hopelessness, of our undertaking. 
They may point us to countries once the seat of the 
church, now overspread with Mahommedan delusion ; 
or, bidding us look at nations who once believed as 
w^e do, now contending for what we consider fatal 
error, they may assure us that our cause is declining. 
To all this we have two answers. First the assump- 
tion that our cause is declining, is utterly gratuitous. 
We think it not difficult to prove, that the distinctive 
principles which we so much venerate, never exerted 
so powerful an influence over the destinies of the 
human race as at this very moment. Point us to 
those nations of the earth to whom moral and intellect- 
ual cultivation, inexhaustible resources, progress in 
arts, and sagacity in council, have assigned the highest 
rank in political importance, and you point us to 
nations whose religious opinions are most closely allied 
to those which we cherish. Besides, when was there a 
period, since the days of the Apostles, in which so 



THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 35 

many converts have been made to these principles, as 
have been made, both from Christian and Pagan 
nations, within the last five and twenty years ? Never 
did the people of the saints of the Most High look so 
much like going forth in serious earnest, to take 
possession of the kingdom and dominion, and the 
greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, as 
at this very day. We see, then, nothing in the signs 
of the times which forebodes a failure, but every thing 
which promises that our undertaking will prosper. 
But secondly, suppose the cause did seem declining; 
we should see no reason to relax our exertions, for 
Jesus Christ has said. Preach the gospel to every 
creature. Appearances, whether prosperous or ad- 
verse, alter not the obligation to obey a positive com- 
mand of Almighty God. 

Again, suppose all that is affirmed were true. If it 
must be, let it be. Let the dark cloud of infidelity 
overspread Europe, cross the ocean, and cover our 
own beloved land. Let nation after nation swerve 
from the faith. Let iniquity abound, and the love of 
many wax cold, even until there is on the face of this 
earth, but one pure church of our Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ. All we ask is, that we may be members 
of that one church. God grant that we may throw 
ourselves into this Thermopylae of the moral universe. 

But, even then, we should have no fear that the 
church of God would be exterminated. We would 
call to remembrance the years of the right hand of the 
Most High. We would recollect there was once a 
time, when the whole church of Christ, not only could 
be, but actually was, gathered with one accord in one 



36 THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 

place. It was then that that place was shaken as with 
a rushing mighty wind, and they were all filled with 
the Holy Ghost. That same day, three thousand 
were added to the Lord. Soon, we hear, they have 
filled Jerusalem w^ith their doctrine. The church has 
commenced her march. Samaria has with one accord 
believed the gospel. Antioch has become obedient 
to the faith. The name of Christ has been proclaimed 
throughout Asia Minor. The temples of the gods, 
as though smitten by an invisible hand, are deserted. 
The citizens of Ephesus cry out in despair. Great is 
Diana of the Ephesians ! Licentious Corinth is puri- 
fied by the preaching of Christ crucified . Persecution 
puts forth her arm to arrest the spreading '' superstition." 
But the progress of the faith cannot be stayed. The 
church of God advances unhurt, amidst racks and 
dungeons, persecutions and death ; yea, " smiles at 
the drawn dagger, and defies its point." She has 
entered Italy, and appears before the walls of the 
Eternal City. Idolatry falls prostrate at her approach. 
Her ensign floats in triumph over the Capitol, She 
has placed upon her brow the diadem of the Caesars ! 

After having witnessed such successes, and under 
such circumstances, we are not to be moved by 
discouragements. To all of them we answer, Our 
Field is the World. The more arduous the under- 
taking, the greater will be the glory. And that glory 
will be ours ; for God Almighty is with us. 

This enterprise of mercy the Son of God came 
down from heaven to commence, and in commencing 
it, he laid down his life. To us has he granted the 
high privilege of carrying it forward. The legacy 



THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 37 

which he left us, as he was ascending to his Father 
and our Father, and to his God and to our God, was. 
Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to 
every creature ; and, lo, I am with you always, even 
unto the end of the world. With such an object 
before us, under such a Leader, and supported by 
such promises, other motives to exertion are unneces- 
sary. Each one of you will anxiously inquire, how 
he may become a co-worker w^ith the Son of God, in 
the glorious design of rescuing a world from the 
miseries of the fall ! 

Blessed be God, this is a work in which every one 
of us is permitted to do something. None so poor, 
none so weak, none so insignificant, but a place of 
action is assigned to him ; and the cause expects 
every man to do his duty. We answer, then, 

1. You may assist in it by your prayers. After 
all that we have said about means, we know that every 
thing will be in vain, without the influences of the 
Holy Spirit. Paul may plant, and Apollos water, it 
is God who giveth the increase. And these influences 
are promised, and promised only, in answer to prayer. 
Ye then who love the Lord, keep not silence, and give 
him no rest, until he establish and make Jerusalem a 
praise in the whole earth. 

2. You may assist by your personal exertions. 
This cause requires a vigorous, persevering, universal 
and systematic effort. It requires that a spirit should 
pervade every one of us, which shall prompt him to 
ask himself every morning, What can I do for Christ, 
to-day ? and which should make him feel humbled and 
ashamed, if at evening, he were obliged to confess that 

4* 



38 THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 

he had done nothing. Each one of us is as much 
obhged as the missionaries themselves, to do all in his 
power to advance the common cause of Christianity. 
We, equally with them, have embraced that gospel, 
of which the fundamental principle is, JVone of us 
liveth to himself And not only is every one bound to 
exert himself to the uttermost, the same obligation rests 
upon us so to direct our exertions, that each of them 
may produce the greatest effect. Each one of us may 
influence others to embark in the undertaking. Each 
one whom we have influenced, maybe induced to enhst 
every individual of that circle of which he is the centre, 
until a self-extending system of intense and reverberated 
action shall embody into one invincible phalanx, '' the 
sacramental host of God's elect." Awake, then, 
brethren, from your slumbers ! Seek first the kingdom 
of God and his righteousness. And recollect that 
what you would do, must be done quickly. The day 
is far spent ; the night is at hand. Whatsoever thy 
hand findeth to do, do it with thy might ; for there is 
no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in 
the grave whither thou goest. 

3. You may assist by your pecuniary contributions. 
An opportunity of this kind wall be presented this 
evening. And here, I trust, it is unnecessary to say 
that in such a cause we consider it a privilege to give. 
How so w^orthily can you appropriate a portion of that 
substance which Providence has given you, as in 
sending to your fellow men, who sit in the region and 
shadow of death, a knowledge of the God who made 
them, and of Jesus Christ whom he hath sent ? We 
pray you, 3q use the mam.mon of unrighteousnessj that 



THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 39 

when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting 
habitations. But, I doubt not, you already burn with 
desire to testify yout love to the crucified Redeemer. 
Enthroned in the high and holy place, he looks down 
at this moment upon the heart of every one of us, and 
will accept of your offering, though it be but the 
v/idow's mite, if it be given with the widow's feeling. 
In the last day of solemn account, he will acknowledge 
it before an assembled universe, saying. Inasmuch 
as ye did it unto one of the least of these my brethren, 
ye did it unto me ! 

May God of his grace enable us so to act, that on 
that day we may meet with joy the record of the 
doings of this evening ; and to his name shall be the 
glory in Christ. Amen. 



DUTIES 



OF 



AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 



DISCOURSE I. 

LUKE XXI. 25. 

AND THERE SHALL BE UPON THE EARTH, DISTRESS OF 
NATIONS WITH PERPLEXITY. 

The season has arrived, my brethren, when in 
conformity with the usages of our forefathers, we are 
assembled to supplicate the blessings of God on the 
labors of the advancing year. Custom has permitted 
that, on such occasions, the minister of religion, 
digressing somewhat from the path of his ordinary 
duty, sliould exhibit to his hearers, some truths not 
expressly revealed in the gospel of Jesus Christ. He 
is allowed to select a theme, which may be rather of 
national interest, and is commanded to abstain only 
from such discussion, as would enkindle those feelings 
of party animosity, to which a free people, in the 



DUTIES OF AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 41 

present imperfect condition of human nature, must be 
always liable. If, then, I should on this day direct 
your attention to a subject somewhat unlike those 
which you are accustomed to hear from this sacred 
place, I trust the example of wiser and better men 
will plead for me an apology. 

But I find, in the occasion that has called us 
together, an apology, with which I must confess 
myself far better satisfied. We have come here as 
citizens of the United States, to implore the blessing 
of God upon our common country. At such a time, 
it cannot be unsuitable to inquire, how may the inter- 
ests of that country be promoted ? The destinies of 
this, are intimately connected with those of other 
nations, and it surely becomes us to ascertain the 
duties which that connexion imposes upon us, I 
remember that, on every question decided in this 
community, each one of you has an influence. I am 
addressing an assembly, whose voice is heard, through 
the medium of its representatives, not only in our halls 
of legislation, and in our cabinet, but throughout the 
legislatures and the cabinets of the civilized world. 
In the attempt, then, to enlighten you upon any of 
those great questions, on which the well-being of our 
country, as well as of other countries, is virtually 
interested, I seem to myself to be discharging a duty 
not improperly devolving upon a profession, which is 
expected to watch, with sedulous anxiety, over every 
change that can have a bearing upon the moral or 
religious interests of a community. Impressed with 
these considerations, I shall proceed to offer you some 
reflections, on what appears to be the present intellect- 



42 THEDUTIESOF 

ual and political condition of the nations of Europe ; 
the relations which we sustain to them; and the 
duties which devolve upon us, in consequence of those 
relations. 

I shall, this morning, direct your attention to some 
reflections upon the present intellectual and 

POLITICAL CONDITION OF THE NATIONS OF EUROPE. 

You are doubtless aware that society, throughout 
Christendom, has been undergoing very striking alter- 
ations, since the era of the Reformation, and the 
invention of the printing press. The effect of the 
new impulse, which was then given to the human 
mind, has been every where visible. The attempt to 
delineate it would require a volume, instead of a 
paragraph. It will only be possible here to state, that 
it has been produced by the more universal diffusion 
of the means of information ; it has been characterized 
by a more unrestrained liberty of thinking ; and has 
every where resulted in elevating the rank, and im- 
proving the condition, of what are generally denomi- 
nated the lowest classes of society. 

But it must be obvious to all of you, that, especially 
within the last fifty years, the intellectual character of 
the middling and lower classes of society throughout 
the civilized world has materially improved, and that 
the process of improvement is at present going forw^ard 
with accelerated rapidity. A taste for that sort of 
reading, which requires considerable reflection, and 
even some acquaintance with the abstract sciences, is 
every day becoming more widely disseminated. And 
not only is the number of newspapers multiplying 
beyond any former precedent, but it is found necessary 



AN AMERICAN CinZEN. 43 

to enlist in their service a far greater portion of literary 
talent than at any other period."^ 

For this increase of the reading and thinking popu- 
lation of Europe at this particular timCj many causes 
may be assigned. It is owingj in part, to that slow 
but certain progress, which the human mind always 
makes after it has once commenced the career of 
iniprovement. It may also have been considerably 
accelerated by the various wars, whicli have of late 
so frequently desolated the continent. The momen- 
tous events to which every campaign gave birth, have 
quickened the desire of intelligence in every class of 
society, and taught men more or less to reflect upon 
the principles which led to so universal commotions. 
And, beside this, the range of information among those 
attached to the army must have been materially en- 
larged by visiting otlier countries, and becoming in a 
considerable degree acquainted with their inhabitants, 
and familiar with their institutions. 

And here truth obliges us to state, that this melio- 
ration owes much of its late advancement to the pious 
zeal of Protestant Christians. Desirous to extend the 
means of salvation to the whole human race, these 
benevolent men have laboured with perseverance and 
success, not only to circulate the Bible, but to enable 
men to read it. Hence have arisen the British and 
Foreign Bible Society, the British and Foreign School 
Society, the Baptist Irish Society, the multiplied free 
schools, and the innumerable Sabbath Schools, which 
are so peculiarly the glory of the present age of the 

* Note A. 



44 THE DUTIES OF 

church. And surely it is deh'ghtful to witness the 
disciples of Him, who went ahout doing good, thus 
girding themselves to the work of redeeming their 
fellow men from ignorance and sin. O! it is a goodly 
thing to behold the rich man pouring forth from his 
abundance, and the poor man casting in his mite ; 
the old man directing by counsel, and the young man 
seconding him by exertion ; the matron visiting the 
prison, and the young woman instructing the Sabbath 
School ; and all pledging themselves, each one to the 
otljer, that, God helping them, this world shall be the 
better for their having lived in it. The effects of 
these exertions are every year becoming more dis- 
tinctly visible. In a short time, if the church be 
faithful to herself, and faithful to her God, what are 
now called the lower classes of society will cease to 
exist ; men and women will be reading and thinking 
beings ; and the word canaille will no longer be 
applied to any portion of the human race, within the 
limits of civilization. 

In connexion with these facts, we would remark, 
that in consequence of this general diffusion of intelli- 
gence, nations are becoming vastly better acquainted 
with the physical, moral and political conditions of 
each other. Whatever of any moment is transacted 
in the legislative assemblies of one country, is now 
very soon known, not merely to the rulers, but also to 
the people of every other country. Nay, an interest- 
ing occurrence of any nature cannot transpire in an 
insignificant town of Europe or America, without 
finding its way, through the medium of the daily 
journals, to the eyes and ears of all Christendom. 



AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 45 

Every man must now be, in a considerable degree, a 
spectator of the doings of the world, or he is soon 
very far in the rear of the intelligence of the day. 
Indeed, he has only to read a respectable newspaper, 
and he may be informed of the discoveries in the arts, 
the discussions in the senates, and the bearings of 
public opinion, all over the world. 

The reasons for all this, as we have intimated, may 
be found chiefly in that increased desire of information, 
which characterizes the mass of society in the present 
age. Intelligence of every kind, and especially polit- 
ical intelligence, has become an article of profit ; and, 
when once this is the casC; there can be no doubt that 
it will be abundantly supplied. Beside this, it is 
important to remark, that the art of navigation has 
been within a few years materially improved, and 
commercial relations have become vastly more exten- 
sive. The establishment of packet ships between the 
two continents has brought London and Paris as near 
to us as Pittsburgh and New-Orleans. There is 
every reason to believe, that, within the next half 
century, steam navigation will render the communica- 
tion between the ports of Europe and America as 
frequent, and almost as regular, as that by ordinary 
mails. The commercial houses of every nation are 
establishing their agencies in the principal cities of 
every other nation, and thus binding together the 
people by every tie of interest; while at the same 
time they are furnishing innumerable channels, by 
which information may be circulated among every 
class of the community. 

Hence it is that the moral influence, which nations 
5 



46 THEDUTIESOF 

are exerting upon each other, is greater than it has 
been at any antecedent period in the history of the 
world. The institutions of one country, are becoming 
known, ahiiost of necessity, to every other country. 
Knowledge provokes to comparison, and comparison 
leads to reflection. The fact that others are happier 
than themselves, prompts men to inquire whence this 
difference proceeds, and how their own melioration 
may be accomplished. By simply looking upon a 
free people, an oppressed people instinctively feel that 
they have inalienable rights ; and they will never 
afterwards be at rest, until the enjoyment of these 
rights is guaranteed to them. Thus one form of 
government, which in any pre-eminent degree pro- 
motes the happiness of man, is gradually but irresist- 
ibly disseminating the principles of its constitution, 
and from the very fact of its existence, calling into 
being those trains of thought, which must in the end 
revolutionize every government, within the sphere of 
its influence, under which the people are oppressed. 

And thus is it that the field in which mind may 
labour, has now become wide as the limits of civiliza- 
tion. A doctrine advanced by one man, if it have 
any claim to interest, is soon known to every other 
man. The movement of one intellect, now sets in 
motion the intellects of millions. We may now 
calculate upon effects, not upon a state or a people, 
but upon the melting, amalgamating mass of human 
nature. Man is now the instrument which genius 
wields at Us will ; it touches a chord of the human 
heart, and nations vibrate in unison. And thus he 
who can rivet the attention of a community upon an 



AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 47 

elementary principle hitherto neglected in politics or 
in morals, or who can bring an acknowledged principle 
to bear upon an existing abuse, may, by his own 
intellectual might, with only the assistance of the 
press, transform the institutions of an empire or a 
world. 

In many respects, the nations of Christendom 
collectively are becoming somewhat analogous to our 
own Federal Republic. Antiquated distinctions are 
passing away, and local animosities are subsiding. 
The common people of different countries are knowing 
each other better, esteeming each other more, and 
attaching themselves to each other by various mani- 
festations of reciprocal good will. It is true, every 
nation has still its separate boundaries and its individ- 
ual interests ; but the freedom of commercial inter- 
course is allowing those interests to adjust themselves 
to each other, and thus rendering the causes of collis- 
ion of vastly less frequent occurrence. Loeal questions 
are becoming of less, and general questions of greater 
importance. Thanks be to God, men have at last 
begun to understand the rights, and to feel for the 
wrongs, of each other. Mountains interposed do not 
so much make enemies of nations. Let the trumpet 
of alarm be sounded, and its notes are now heard by 
every nation whether of Europe or America. Let a 
voice borne on the feeblest breeze tell that the rights 
of man are in danger, and it floats over valley and 
mountain, across continent and ocean, until it has 
vibrated on the ear of the remotest dweller in Chris- 
tendom. Let the arm of oppression be raised to 
crush the feeblest nation on earth, and there will be 



48 THE DUTIES OF 

heard every where, if not the shout of defiance, at least 
the deep-toned murmur of implacable displeasure. It 
is the cry of aggrieved, insulted, much-abused man. 
It is human nature waking in her might from the 
slumber of ages, shaking herself from the dust of 
antiquated institutions, girding herself for the combat, 
and going forth conquering and to conquer ; and wo 
unto the man, wo unto the dynasty, wo unto the party, 
and wo unto the policy, on whom shall fall the scath 
of her blighting indignation. 

Now it must be evident, that this progress in intel- 
lectual cultivation must be effecting important changes 
in the political condition of the nations of Europe. 
This moral power has been applied almost exclusively 
to one portion of the social mass. The rulers remain 
very much as they were half a century ago ; but the 
people have advanced with a rapidity, of which the 
former history of the world furnishes us with no similar 
example. The relations which once subsisted between 
the parties having changed, the institutions of society 
must change with them. A form of government to be 
stable, must be adapted to the intellectual and moral 
condition of the governed ; and when from any cause 
it has ceased to be so adapted, the time has come 
when it must inevitably be either modified or subverted. 
These remarks seem to us to apply with special force 
to the present condition of many of the nations of 
Europe. I will proceed then, and remark some of the 
changes which this progress in intellectual improve- 
ment is effecting in their political condition. 

II. We shall commence this part of our subject 
by remarking, that the various forms of government 



AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 49 

under which society has existed may, with sufficient 
accuracy, be reduced to two ; governments of will, 
and governments of law. 

A government of will supposes that there are created 
two classes of society, the rulers and the ruled, each 
possessed of different and very dissimilar rights. It 
supposes all power to be vested by divine appointment 
in the hands of the rulers ; that they alone may say 
under what form of government the people shall live ; 
that law is nothing other than an expression of their 
will ; and that it is the ordinance of Heaven that such 
a constitution should continue unchanged to the re- 
motest generations ; and that to all this, the people 
are bound to yield passive and implicit obedience. 
Thus say the Congress of Sovereigns, which has been 
styled the Holy Alliance : " All useful and necessary 
changes ought only to emanate from the free will and 
intelligent conviction of those, whom God has made 
responsible for power." You are well aware, that on 
principles such as these rest most of the governments 
of continental Europe. 

The government of law rests upon principles pre- 
cisely the reverse of all this. It supposes that there 
is but one class of society, and that this class is the 
people ; that all men are created equal, and therefore 
that civil institutions are voluntary associations, of 
which the sole object should be to promote the happi- 
ness of the whole. It supposes the people to have a 
perfect right to select that form of government under 
which they shall live, and to modify it, at any subse- 
quent time, as they shall think desirable. Supposing 
all power to emanate from the people, it considers tho 
5^ 



50 THE DUTIES OF 

authority of rulers purely a delegated authority, to be 
exercised in all cases according to a written code, 
which code is nothing more than an authentic expres- 
sion of the people's will. It teaches that the ruler is 
nothing more than the intelligent organ of enlightened 
public opinion, and declares that if he ceases to be so, 
he shall be a ruler no longer. Under such a govern- 
ment, may it w^ith truth be said of law^, that ''her seat 
is the bosom " of the people, '' her voice the harmony" 
of society ; " all men in every station do her reverence ; 
the very least as feeling her care, and the very great- 
est as not exempted from her power ; and though 
each in different sort and manner, yet all with uniform 
consent, adm/iring her as the mother' of their peace and 
joy." I need not add, that our own is an illustrious 
example of the government of law. 

Now, which of these tw^o is the right notion of gov- 
ernment, I need not stay to inquire. It is sufficient 
for my purpose to remark, that whenever men have 
become enlightened by the general diffusion of intelli- 
gence, they have universally preferred the government 
of law. The doctrines of what is called legitimacy, 
have not been found to stand the scrutiny of unre- 
strained examination. And beside this, the love of 
power is as inseparable from the human bosom as the 
love of life. Hence men will never rest satisfied with 
any civil institutions, which confer exclusively upon a 
part of society, that power which they believe should 
justly be vested in the whole ; and hence it is evident 
that no government can be secure from the effects of 
increasing intelligence, which is not conformed in its 
principles to the nature of the human heart, and which 



AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 51 

does not provide for the exercise of this principle, so 
inseparable from the nature of man. 

We see then that the people under arbitrary gov- 
ernments, whenever they have become enlightened^ 
must begin to desire some change in the existing 
institutions. On the contrary, it is not unreasonable 
to suppose, that to such change the rulers would every 
where be opposed. Instances have been rare in the 
history of man, in which the possessor of power, has 
surrendered it to any thing but physical force. The 
rulers every where will, to the utmost of their ability^ 
maintain the existing institutions. This is not con- 
jecture. The Holy Alliance has declared its deter- 
mination to bring its whole power to bear upon any 
point, from which there was reason to fear that the 
love of change, or, in other words, the love of liberty^ 
would be disseminated. They have announced that 
" the powers have an undoubted right to assume an 
hostile attitude, in relation to those States in which 
the overthrow of governments may operate as an 
example," 

You perceive then, that if the people of Europe 
have become dissatisfied with the government of will, 
and if the rulers have determined to support it, the 
present progress of intelligence must be rapidly di- 
viding the whole community into two great classes. 
The one is composed of the monarchy, the aristocracy 
and the army, and in general of all those whose wealth, 
whose rank, or whose influence depend on the contin- 
uance of the existing system. The other is composed 
of the middling and lower classes of society, of the 
men who understand the nature of liberal institutions. 



52 THEDUTIESOF 

and who are groaning under the weight of civil and 
religious oppression. The question at issue is, whether 
a nation shall be governed by men of its choice, or by 
men whose only title to rule is derived from hereditary 
descent ; whether laws shall be made for the benefit 
of the whole or of a part ; and whether they shall be 
the expression of a monarch's will, or the unbiassed 
decisions of an enlightened community. It is a ques- 
tion between precedent and right ; between old notions 
and new ones ; between rulers and ruled ; between 
governments and people. It has already agitated 
Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Germany, Prussia, 
and South America. Hence you see that the parties 
formed in those nations have all taken their names 
from their attachments to one or the other of these 
notions of government. Hence we hear of constitu- 
tionalists and royalists, of liberals and anti-liberals, of 
legitimates and reformers. It is, in a word, the same 
question, though modified by circumstances, which 
wrought out the revolution under Charles I., and in 
which the best blood of this country was shed at Lexing- 
ton and at Bunker-Hill, at Saratoga, and atYorktown. 
But we cannot pass from this subject without re- 
marking another fact, which renders the present state 
of Europe doubly interesting to every friend of the 
religion of Jesus Christ. You are well aware that 
what is called Christianity is at the present day exhib- 
ited to the world under two very different forms. 
The one supposes man amenable to no created being 
for his religious opinions, and that, provided he do 
not disturb the peace of society, he is perfectly at 
liberty to worship God according to the dictates of his 



AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 53 

own conscience. It supposes, moreover, the Bible to 
be a sufficient and the only rule of faith and practice ; 
a book of ultimate facts in morals, which is to be put 
into the hands of every one, which every one is at 
liberty to interpret for himself, and that with his 
interpretation neither any man nor body of men has 
any right to interfere. The other form, which also 
professes to be Christianity, supposes, on the contrary, 
that religious opinion must be subject to the will of 
man ; and that, for disbelieving the religion of the 
State, the citizen is justly liable to fine, disfranchise- 
ment, imprisonment, and death. It denies toman the 
right of reading the scriptures, and substitutes in their 
place monkish legends of fabulous miracles. It stamps 
the traditions and the decisions of men with the au- 
thority of a revelation from heaven, and thus places 
conscience, by far the strongest of those principles 
vvrhich agitate the human bosom and direct the human 
conduct, entirely under the control of ambitious 
statesmen and avaricious priests. You perceive, I 
have alluded to the Protestant and Catholic forms of 
Christianity, such as they generally exist on the con- 
tinent of Europe. 

These systems, as you must be convinced, depend 
upon principles very different, the one from the other. 
The one pleads for the universal circulation of the 
scriptures ; the other, from its highest authority, for- 
bids it. The one labours for the improvement of the 
lower classes of society, and lives, and moves, and has 
its being, in the atmosphere of religious liberty ; the 
other has never been able to retain its influence over 
the mind, any longer than whilst enforcing its doctrines 



54 THE DUTIES OF 

by relentless persecution. And hence are the scrip- 
tures supposed to have designated this church by that 
awful appellation, " drunk with the blood of the 
saints." Here then we see that the adherents of these 
two systems must be at issue on that question, of all 
others dearest to man, the question of liberty of 
conscience. 

But it is here of importance to observe, how nearly 
the line w4iich is drawn in this division coincides with 
that other on the question of civil liberty, of which we 
have just spoken. The government of will has never 
been able to support itself, without an alliance with 
the ecclesiastical power. Having no hold upon the 
understanding, or upon the affections of man, it must 
control his conscience, or it cannot be upheld. And, 
on the contrary, the Catholic religion cannot carry its 
principles into practice, w^lthout the assistance of the 
civil arm. The State needs the anathema of the 
Church to check the spirit of inquiry, and the Church 
needs the physical power of the State, to silence by 
force w^hen it cannot convince by argument. These 
systems are, as you see, the natural allies of each 
other ; and hence in fact have they always been 
found very closely united. Hence is it that we behold 
at present, among the sovereigns of the Holy Alliance, 
so evident an attempt to re-establish the influence of 
the papal see; and hence, to use the language of the 
Christian Observer,^ " do we perceive throughout 
Europe the mournful advances of that superstitious 
and persecuting church, whose much abused power 
we had hoped was crumbling to decay." 
* Ch. Observer, Vol. 24, p. 401. 



AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 55 

And, on the contrary, it is equally evident, that 
popular institutions are inseparably connected with 
Protestant Christianity. Both rest upon the same 
fundanaental principle, the absolute freedom of inquiry. 
Neither accepts of any support not derived from the 
suffrages of a free, intelligent, and virtuous community. 
Though each is perfectly independent, yet neither 
could long exist without giving birth to the other. 
And here, were it necessary, it would not be difBcult 
to show that the doctrines of Protestant Christianity 
are the sure, nay, the only bulwark of civil freedom. 
A survey of the history of Europe, since the era of 
the Reformation, would teach us, that man has never 
correctly understood nor successfully asserted his 
rights, until he has learned them from the Bible ; and, 
still more, that those nations have always enjoyed the 
most perfect freedom, who have been most thoroughly 
imbued with the doctrines of Jesus Christ. But a 
discussion of this sort would lead us too far from the 
range of this discourse. Enough has, we trust, been 
said to convince you, that the very existence of 
Protestantism in Europe, is at stake on the issue of 
the question, which appears so sooa about to agitate 
that continent. 

And hence, if the human mind only continues to 
advance at its present rate of improvement, a general 
division of the people in Christendom seems inevitable. 
The questions at issue are the most momentous that 
can be presented, and the most active principles of 
the human heart must oblige every man to rank 
himself on the one side or on the other. It is the 
question, whether man shall surrender up into the 



56 THE DUTIES OF 

hands of other men those rights, which he holds 
immediately from God ; whether, in fact, he shall 
bow to nothing but law, or tremble at the frown of a 
despot. It is whether the human mind shall advance 
steadily onward in the career of improvement, or 
whether it shall lose all that it has gained, and sink 
back again into the gloom of monkish superstition. 
On the issue of this controversy depends the question, 
whether the light of divine revelation shall shine far 
and wide over our benighted world, pointing out to 
our fellow men the path to everlasting life ; or whether 
that light shall be extinguished, and the generations 
which follow, the prey to a designing priesthood, shall 
be led in ignorance to everlasting wo. 

Such seem to us to be some of the circumstances 
attending the present political condition of Europe. 
That two parties are forming in every country, you 
have abundant evidence; it is equally evident that the 
question on which they are divided is of the utmost 
magnitude ; and that it is, in every nation, substantially 
the same. 

In concluding, it may be worth our while to remark, 
very briefly, the condition and the prospects of these 
two opposite parties. 

1. As to their present state, we may observe, that 
the one has enlisted the greatest numbers, while the 
other wields the most effective force. The one 
comprises the lower and middling classes of society, 
which are of course by far the most numerous, and 
the other, the rulers and their immediate dependants. 
The physical power of any nation always resides with 
the governed, and it is the governed who are the 



AN AMERICAN CITIZEN, 57 

friends of free institutions. But it is to be remarked, 
that the millions who desire reform are scattered 
abroad over immense tracts of country, each one by 
his own fireside, without concert, and destitute of the 
means for organized operation ; on the contrary, the 
force of the rulers is always collected, and can at any 
moment be brought to bear upon any portion of terri- 
tory, in which there might appear the least movement 
towards revolution. 

But the friends of popular institutions are opposed, 
in every nation, by m^ore than the force of their own 
rulers. Whilst they are powerful only at home, the 
rulers are able to bring all their forces to bear upon a 
single point in any part of the civilized world. To 
accomplish this purpose, seems the principal design of 
the Holy Alliance ', and hence they have pledged the 
physical force of the whole to each other, whenever a 
question shall be agitated in any country, on which 
depends the rights of the people. 

2. If we compare their prospects, we shall find that 
the power of the popular party is increasing with amazing 
rapidity. Nations are already flocking to its standard. 
Fifty years ago, and it could be hardly said to exist, 
only as the voice of indignant freemen was heard in 
yonder hall,* the far famed "cradle of liberty." 
From that moment, its progress has been right 
onward. A continent has since declared itself free. 
In the old world, the principles of liberty are becoming 
more universally received, more thoroughly understood, 
and more ably supported. Education is becoming 

* Fanueil Hall, Boston. 



58 THE DUTIES OF 

every day more widely disseminated ; and every man, 
as he learns to think, ranks himself with the friends of 
intellectual improvement. The trains of thought are 
already at work, which must effect important modifi- 
cations in the social edifice, or that edifice, undermined 
from its foundations, must crumble into ruin. 

And thus, from these very causes, the other party 
is rapidly declining. Nations are leaving it. The 
people are loathing it. It cannot ultimately succeed, 
until it has changed the ordinances of heaven. It 
cannot prosper, unless it can check that tendency to 
improvement, with which God endowed man at the 
first moment of his creation. Every report of op- 
pression weakens it. Every Sabbath School, every 
Bible Society, nay, every mode of circulating knowl- 
edge weakens it. And thus, unless by some combined 
and convulsive effort it should for a little while recover 
its power, it may almost be expected that within the 
present age, it will fall before the resistless march of 
public opinion, and give place every where to govern- 
ments of law. 



AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 59 



DISCOURSE II. 



PSALxM LXVII. 1, 2. 

GOD BE MERCIFUL Ux\TO US, AND BLESS US, AND CAUSE 
HIS FACE TO SHINE UPON US ; THAT THY WAY MAY BE 
KNOWN UPON EAUTH, THY SAVING HEALTH AMONG ALL 
NATIONS. 

Pursuing the train of thought which was com- 
menced this morning, I shall proceed to consider the 
relation which this country sustains to the nations of 
Europe, and some of the duties which devolve upon 
us in consequence of this relation. 

L Let us consider the relation w^hich this 

COUNTRY SUSTAINS TO THE NATIONS OF EuROPE. 

Here we shall observe, in the first place, that this 
country is evidently at the head of the popular party 
throughout the civilized world. The statement of a 
few facts will render this remark sufficiently evident. 
I. This nation owes its existence to a love of 
those very principles for which the friends of liberty 
are now contending. Rather than bow to oppression, 
civil or ecclesiastical, our fathers fled to a land of 
savages, determined to clear away in an inhospitable 
wilderness, one spot on the face of the earth where 



60 THE DUTIES OF 

man might be free. Ens e petit placidam sub libertate 
quiet em, "^ 

2. This nation first proclaimed these principles, 
as the only proper basis of a constitution of government. 
Here was it first declared by a legislative assembly : 
''We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men 
are created equal ; that they are endowed by their 
Creator with certain inalienable rights ; that among 
these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; 
that to secure these rights, governments are instituted 
among men, deriving their just powers from the con- 
sent of the governed ; that, whenever any form of 
government becomes destructive of these ends, it is 
the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to 
institute a new government, laying its foundation on 
such principles, and organizing its powers in such 
form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their 
safety and happiness. "f 

3. This nation first contended for those principles 
with perfect success. In other countries, attempts 
had been made to re-model the institutions of govern- 
ment. But in some cases, the attempt was arrested 
in its outset by overwhelming force ; in others, the 
first movement having been succeeded by anarchy, 
anarchy gave place to military despotism, and this at 
last yielded to a restoration of the former dynasty. In 
our country first was the contest commenced, in sim- 
plicity of heart, for the rights of man ; and when these 
were secured, here alone did the contest cease. 

* The armorial bearing on the shield of Massachusetts, 
t Declaration of Independence. 



AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 61 

Since OUT revolution, other nations have followed our 
example, and many more are preparing to follow it. 
But when the most glorious success shall have attend- 
ed their struggle for liberty, they are but our imitators j 
and the greatest praise of any subsequent revolution 
must be that it has resembled our own. Our heroic 
struggle, its perfect success, its virtuous termination, 
have rivetted the eyes of the people of Europe 
specially upon us, and they cannot now be averted. 
To us do they look, when they would see what man 
can do ; and while sighing under their oppressions, 
they yet hope to be free. 

4. And lastly, our country has given to the world 
the first ocular demonstration, not only of the practi- 
cability, but also of the unrivalled superiority of a 
popular form of government. It was not long since 
fashionable to ridicule the idea, that a people could 
govern themselves. The science of rulers was sup- 
posed to consist in keeping the people in ignorance, 
in restraining them by force, and amusing them by 
shows. The people were treated like a ferocious 
monster, whose keepers could only be secure while its 
dungeon was dark, and its chain massive. But the 
example of our own country is rapidly consigning 
these notions to merited desuetude. It is teaching 
the world that the easiest method of governing an 
intelligent people is, to allow them to govern them- 
selves. It is demonstrating that the people, so far 
from being the enemies, are the best, nay, the natural 
friends of wholesome institutions. It is showing that 
kings, and nobles, and standing armies, and religious 
establishments, are at best only very useless appea- 
6* 



62 THEDUTIESOF 

dages to a form of government. It is showing to the 
world that every right can be perfectly protected, 
under rulers elected by the people ; that a govern- 
ment can be stable, with no other support than the 
affections of its citizens ; that a people can be virtuous, 
without an established religion ^ and, more than this, 
that just such a government as it was predicted could 
no where exist but in the brain of a benevolent enthu- 
siast, has actually existed for half a century, acquiring 
strength, and compactness, and solidity w^ith every 
year's duration. And it is manifest that no where 
else have men been so free, so happy, so enlightened, 
or so enterprising, and no where have the legitimate 
objects of civil institutions been so triumphantly at- 
tained. Against facts such as these, it is difficult to 
argue ; and they furnish the friends of free institutions 
with more than an answer to all the theories of 
legitimacy. 

It is unnecessary to pursue this subject further. 
You are doubtless convinced that this country stands 
linked by a thousand ties to the popular sentiment of 
Europe. We have no sympathies with the rulers. 
The principles, in support of which they are allied, 
are diametrically opposed to the very spirit of our 
constitution. Ail our sympathies are. with the people ; 
for we are all of us the people. And not only are we 
thus amalgamated with them in feeling, we are mani- 
festly at the head of that feeling. We first promul- 
gated their sentiments, we taught them their rights, we 
first contended successfully for their principles ; and 
for fifty years we have furnished incontrovertible evi- 
dence that their principles are true. These principles 



AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 63 

have already girded us with Herculean strength, in 
the very infancy of our empire, and have given us 
political precedence of governments, which had been 
established on the old foundation, centuries before 
our continent was discovered. And now what nation 
will be second in the new order of things, is yet to be 
decided ; but the providence of God has already 
announced, that, if true to ourselves, we shall be 
inevitably first. 

Now to say that any country is at the head of 
popular sentiment, is only to say, in other words, that 
it is in her power to direct that sentiment. You are 
then prepared to proceed with me, and remark, in 
the next place, that it devolves on this country to lead 
forward the present movement of public opinion, to 
freedom and independence. 

It devolves on us to sustain and to chasten the love 
of liberty among the friends of reform in other nations. 
It is not enough that the people every where desire a 
change. The subversion of a bad government is by 
no means synonymous with the establishment of a 
better. A people must know what it is to be free ; 
they must have learned to reverence themselves, and 
bow implicitly to the principles of right, or nothing 
can be gained by a change of institutions. A consti- 
tution written on paper is utterly worthless, unless it 
be also written on the hearts of a people. Unless 
men have learned to govern themselves, they may be 
plunged into all the horrors of civil war, and yet 
emerge from the most fearful revolution, a lawless 
nation of sanguinary slaves. But if this country re- 
main happy, and its institutions free, it will render the 



(34 THE DUTIES OF 

common people of other countries acquainted with the 
fundamental principles of the science of government; 
this knowledge will silently produce its practical 
result, and year after year will insensibly train them 
to freedom. 

But suppose that the spirit of freedom have been 
sustained to its issue, the blow to have been struck, 
and, either by concession or by force, the time to 
have arrived when the institutions of the old world 
are to be transformed; then will the happiness of the 
civilized world be again connected most intimately 
with the destinies of this country. Ancient constitu-^ 
tions having been abolished, new ones must be adopted 
by ahiiost every nation in Europe. The old founda- 
tions will have been removed ; it wnll still remain to 
be decided on what foundations the social edifice shall 
rest. From the relation which we now sustain to the 
friends of free institutions, as w^ell as from all the 
cases of revolution which have lately occurred,"^ it is 
evident that to this nation they will all look for pre- 
cedent and example. Thus far our .institutions have 
conferred on man all that any form of aovernment 
was ever expected to bestow. Should the grand 
experiment which we are now making on the human 
character succeed, there can be no doubt that other 
governments, following our example, will be formed 
on the principles of equality of right. To illustrate 
the subject by an example; — who does not see, that 
if France had been illuminated in the era of her revo- 
lution by the light which our fifty years' experience 

* Note B. 



AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. Q^ 

has shed upon the world, unstained with the blood of 
three millions of her citizens, she might now have 
been rejoicing in a government of law ? 

We have thus far spoken only of the effects which 
this country might produce upon the politics of Europe, 
simply by her example. It is not impossible, however, 
that she may be called to exert an influence still more 
direct on the destinies of man. Should the rulers of 
Europe make war upon the principles of our consti- 
tution, because its existence '* may operate as an 
example ;" or should a universal appeal be made to 
arms, on the question of civil and religious liberty ; — 
it is manifest that we must take no secondary part in 
the controversy. The contest will involve the civil- 
ized world, and the blow will be struck which must 
decide the fate of man for centuries to come. 

Then will the hour have arrived, when, uniting with 
herself the friends of freedom throughout the world, 
this country must breast herself to the shock of con- 
gregated nations. Then will she need the wealth of 
her merchants, the prowess of her warriors, and the 
sagacity of her statesmen. Then, on the altars of our 
God, let us each one devote himself to the cause of 
the human race ; and in the name of the Lord of 
Hosts go forth unto the battle. If need be, let our 
choicest blood flow freely; for life itself is valueless, 
when such interests are at stake. Then, when a 
world in arms is assembling to the conflict, may this 
country be found fighting in the vanguard for the 
liberties of man. God himself hath summoned her 
to the contest, and she may not shrink back. For 
this hour may He by his grace prepare her. 



66 THE DUTIES OF 

How a contest of this kind would terminate, we 
should doubt, if our trust were in an arm of flesh. 
But we doubt not. We believe that the cause of man 
will triumph, because the Judge of the whole earth 
will do right. The wrath of man shall p aise him, 
and the remainder of wrath he will restrain. And 
yet again we doubt not ; for we believe that on the 
issue of this controversy, the dearest interests of the 
church of Christ are suspended. That day will 
decide, whether the light of revelation shall shine far 
abroad among the nations, or whether it shall be 
extinguished, and its place be supplied by the legends 
of a monkish superstition. We cannot believe that 
the blood of martyrs has flowed so much in vain. 
We cannot believe that God will suffer his church to 
go back again for ages, after he has showed her, in 
these latter days, so many tokens for good. There- 
fore, though the kings of the earth set themselves, and 
tlie rulers take counsel together against the Lord and 
against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands 
asunder and cast away their cords from us ; he that 
sitteth in the heavens shall laugh ; the Lord shall 
have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto 
them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeas- 
ure. For he hath set his King upon his holy hill of 
Zion. God is our refuge and strength, a very present 
help in trouble. The Lord of Hosts is with us ; the 
God of Jacob is our refuge. 

And if the cause of true religion and of man shall 
eventually triumph, as we trust in God it will, who 
can tell how splendid are the destinies which will then 
await this country ! One feeling, the love of liberty, 



AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 67 

will have cemented together all the nations of the earth. 
Though speaking different languages and inhabiting 
different regions, all will be but one people, united in 
the pursuit of one object, the happiness of the whole* 
And at the head of this truly holy alliance, if faithful 
to her trust, will then this nation be found. The first 
that taught them to be free ; the first that suffered in 
the contest ; the nation that most freely and most 
firmly stood by them in the hour of their calamity ; — 
at her feet will they lay the tribute of universal grati- 
tude. Each one bound to her by every sentiment of 
interest and affection, she will be the centre of the 
new system, which shall then emerge out of the chaos 
of ancient institutions. Henceforth she will sway for 
ages the destinies of the world. 

Who of us does not kindle into enthusiasm as he 
contemplates the mighty interests connected with the 
prosperit}^ of this country ? With the success of our 
institutions, the cause of man throughout the civilized 
world seems indissolubly interwoven. What, then, 
let us inquire, are 

II. The duties to which we are summoned 

BY THE RELATION THAT WE SUSTAIN TO OUR BRETH- 
REN OF THE HUMAN RACE? This is the last topic to 
which I shall direct your attention. 

And here it is scarcely necessary to remark, that it 
cannot be our duty to do any thing which shall at all 
interfere with the internal concerns of any other gov- 
ernment. We should thus compromise the fundamen- 
tal principle of our constitution, that civil institutions 
are to be established or modified only in obedience to 
the will of the majority. But this will can be ascer- 



68 THE DUTIES OP 

tained only by allowing each nation to select for itself 
that form of government, which it shall choose. If 
the majority in any nation are willing to be slaves, no 
power on earth can make them free. It is certainly 
their misfortune ; but physical force can do them no 
good. We may extend to them every facility for the 
dissemination of knowledge and of religion ; this we 
ow^e to them as brethren of the human race ; and 
having done this, we must commit them to the decis- 
ions of an all-wise and holy Providence. 

It is evident, then, that unless called to defend the 
cause of liberty in the field, all we can do for it must 
be done at home. Our power resides in the force of 
our example. It is by exhibiting to other nations the 
practical excellence of a government of law, that they 
will learn its nature and advantages, and will in due 
time achieve their own emancipation. 

The question, then, what can we do to promote 
the cause of liberty throughout the world, resolves 
itself into another, what can we do to ensure the 
success of that experiment which our institutions are 
making upon the character of man ? 

In answering it, it is important to remark, that 
whatever we would do for our country, must be done 
for THE PEOPLE. Great results can never be effected 
in any other way. Specially is this the case under a 
republican constitution. Here the people are not 
only the real but also the acknowledged fountain of 
all authority. They make the laws, and they control 
the execution of them. They direct the senate, they 
overawe the cabinet, and hence it is the moral and 
intellectual character of the people which must give 



AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 69 

to the " very age and body of our institutions' their 
form and pressure." 

So long, then, as our people remain virtuous and 
intelligent, our government will remain stable. While 
they clearly perceive, and honestly decree justice, our 
laws will be wholesome, and the principles of our 
constitution will commend themselves every where to 
the common sense of man. But should our people 
become ignorant and vicious ; should their decisions 
become the dictates of passion and venality, rather 
than of reason and of right, that moment are our liber- 
ties at an end ; and, glad to escape from the despotism 
of millions, we shall flee for shelter to the despotism 
of one. Then will the world's last hope be extin- 
guished, and darkness brood for ages over the whole 
human race. 

Not less important is moral and intellectual cultiva- 
tion, if we would prepare our country to stand forth 
the bulwark of the liberties of the world. Should the 
time to try men's souls ever come again, our reliance 
under God must be, as it was before, on the character 
of our citizens. Our soldiers must be men whose 
bosoms have swollen with the conscious dignity of 
freemen, and who, firmly trusting in a righteous God, 
can look unmoved on embattled nations leagued 
together for purposes of wrong. When the means of 
education every where throughout our country shall 
be free as the air we breathe ; when every family 
shall have its Bible, and every individual shall love to 
read it ; then and not till then shall we exert our 
proper influence on the cause of man ; then and not 
till then shall we be prepared to stand forth between 
7 



70 THE DUTIES OF 

the oppressor and the oppressed, and say to the proud 
wave of domination, Thus far shalt thou come and no 
farther. 

It seems then evident, that the paramount duty of 
an American citizen, is, to put in requisition every 
possible means for elevating universally the intellectual 
and moral character of our people. 

When we speak of intellectual elevation, we would 
not suggest that all our citizens are to become able 
linguists, or profound mathematicians. This, at least 
for the present, is not practicable ; it certainly is not 
necessary. The object at which we aim will be 
attained, when every man is famiharly acquainted 
with what are now considered the ordinary branches 
of an English education. The intellectual stores of 
one language are then open before him ; a language 
in which he may find all the knowledge that he will 
ever need to form his opinions upon any subjects on 
which it will be his duty to decide. A man who 
cannot read, let us always remember, is a being not 
contemplated by the genius of our constitution. 
Where the right of suffrage is extended to all, he is 
certainly a dangerous member of the community who 
has not qualified himself to exercise it. But on this 
part of the subject I need not enlarge. The proceed- 
ings of our National and State Legislatures already 
furnish ample proof that our people are tremblingly 
alive to its importance. We do firmly believe the time 
to be not far distant, when there will not be found a 
single citizen of these United States, who is not en- 
titled to the appellation of a well informed man."^ 
* Note C. 



AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 71 

But supposing all this to be done, still only a part, 
and by far the least important part of our work will 
have been accomplished. We have increased the 
power of the people, but we have left it doubtful in 
what direction that power will be exerted. We have 
made it certain that a public opinion will be formed ; 
but whether that opinion shall be healthful or destruc- 
tive, is yet to be decided. We have cut out channels 
by which knowledge may be conveyed to every indi- 
vidual of our mighty population ; it remains for us, 
by means of those very channels, to instil into every 
bosom an unshaken reverence for the principles of 
right. Having gone thus far, then, we must go farther ; 
for you must be aware that the tenure by which our 
liberties is held can never be secure, unless moral, 
keep pace with intellectual cultivation. This leads 
us to remark, in the second place, that our other and 
still more imperative duty is, to cultivate the moral 
character of our people."^ 

On the means by which this may be effected, I 
need not detain you. We have in our hands a book 
of tried efficacy ; a book which contains the only 
successful appeal that was ever made to the moral 
sense of man ; a book which unfolds the only remedy 
that has ever been applied with any effect to the 
direful maladies of the human heart. You need not 
be informed that I refer to the Holy Scriptures of the 
Old and New Testament. 

As to the powerful, I had almost said miraculous 
effect of the sacred Scriptures, there can no longer be 
a doubt in the mind of any one on whom fact can 
* Note D. 



72 THE DUTIES OF 

make an impression. That the truths of the Bible 
have the power of awakening an intense moral feeling 
in man under every variety of character, learned or 
ignorant, civilized or savage ; that they make bad men 
good, and send a pulse of heathful feeling through all 
the domestic, civil, and social relations ; that they 
teach men to love right, to hate WTong, and to seek 
each other's welfare, as the children of one common 
parent ; that they control the baleful passions of the 
human heart, and thus make man a proficient in the 
science of self government ; and finally, that they teach 
him to aspire after conformity to a Being of infinite 
holiness, and fill him with hopes infinitely more puri- 
fying, more exalting, more suited to his nature than 
any other, which this world has ever known ; are 
facts, incontrovertible as the laws of philosophy, or 
the demonstrations of mathematics. Evidence in 
support of all this can be brought from every age in 
the history of man, since there has been a revelation 
from God on earth. We see the proof of it every 
where around us. There is scarcely a neighbourhood 
in our country where the Bible is circulated, in which 
we cannot point you to a very considerable portion of 
the population, whom its truths have reclaimed from 
the practice of vice, and taught the practice of what- 
soever things are pure, and honest, and just, and of 
good report. 

That this distinctive and peculiar effect is produced 
upon every man to whom the gospel is announced, 
we pretend not to affirm. But we do affirm, that 
beside producing this special renovation to which we 
have alluded, upon a part, it, in a most remarkable 



AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 73 

degree, elevates the tone of moral feeling throughout 
the whole of a community. Wherever the Bible- is 
freely circulated, and its doctrines carried home to 
the understandings of men, the aspect of society is 
altered ; the frequency of crime is diminished ; men 
begin to love justice, and to administer it by law ; 
and a virtuous public opinion, that strongest safeguard 
of right, spreads over a nation the shield of its invisible 
protection. Wherever it has faithfully been brought 
to bear upon the human heart, even under most 
unpromising circumstances, it has within a single 
generation revolutionized the whole structure of socie- 
ty ; and thus within a few years done more for man, 
than all other means have for ages accompHshed 
without it. For proof of all this, I need only refer 
you to the effects of the gospel in Greenland, or in 
South Africa ; in the Society Islands, or even among 
the aborigines of our own country. 

But before we leave this part of the subject, it may 
be well to pause for a moment, and inquire whether, 
in addition to its moral efficacy, the Bible may not 
exert a powerful influence on the intellectual character 
of man. 

And here it is scarcely necessary that I should 
remark, that of all the books with which, since the 
invention of writing, this world has been deluged, the 
number of those is very small which have produced 
any perceptible effect on the mass of human character. 
By far the greater part have been, even by their con- 
temporaries, unnoticed and unknown. Not many an 
one has made its little mark upon the generation that 
produced it, though it sunk with that generation to 
7* 



74 THEDUTIESOF 

Utter forgetfulness. But after the ceaseless toll of six 
thousand years, how few have been the works, the 
adamantine basis of whose reputation has stood unhurt 
amid the fluctuations of time, and whose impression 
can be traced through successive centuries on the 
history of our species. 

When, however, such a work appears, its effects 
are absolutely incalculable ; and such a work, you 
are aware, is the Iliad of Homer. Who can esti- 
mate the results produced by this incomparable effort 
of a single mind ! Who can tell what Greece owes 
to this first-born of song ! Her breathing marbles, 
her solemn temples, her unrivalled eloquence, and her 
matchless verse, all point us to that transcendent 
genius, wdio by the very splendour of his own effulgence 
woke the human Intellect from the slumber of ages. 
It was Homer who gave laws to the artist ; it was 
Homer who inspired the poet ; it was Homer who 
thundered in the senate ; and, more than all, it was 
Homer who was sung by the people ; and hence a 
nation was cast into the mould of one mighty mind, 
and the land of the Iliad, became the region of taste, 
the birth-place of the arts. Nor was tills influence 
confined within the limits of Greece. Long after the 
sceptre of empire had passed westward, genius still 
held her court on the banks of the liyssus, and from 
the country of Homer gave laws to the world. The 
light which the blind old man of Scio had kindled in 
Greece, shed its radiance over Italy ; and thus did he 
awaken a second nation to intellectual existence. 
And we may form some idea of the power which this 
one work has to the present day exerted over the 



AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 75 

mind of man, by remarking, that " nation after nation, 
and century after century has been able to do little 
more than transpose his incidents, new-name his 
characters, and paraphrase his sentiments."^ 

But considered simply as an intellectual production, 
who will compare the poems of Homer with the Holy 
Scriptures of the Old and New Testament ? Where 
in the Iliad shall we find simplicity and pathos to vie 
with the narrative of Moses, or maxims of conduct to 
equal in wisdom the Proverbs of Solomon, or sublim- 
ity which does not fade away before the conceptions 
of Job, or David, of Isaiah, or St. John ? But I 
cannot pursue this comparison. I feel that it is doing 
wrong to the mind which dictated the Iliad, and to 
those other mighty intellects on whom the light of the 
holy oracles never shined. Who that has read his 
poem has not observed how he strove in vain to give 
dignity to the mythology of his time ? Who has not 
seen how the religion of his country, unable to support 
the flight of his imagination, sunk pov/erless beneath 
him ? It is in the unseen world that the master spirits 
of our race breathe freely and are at home ; and it is 
mournful to behold the intellect of Homer striving to 
free itself from the conceptions of materialism, and 
then sinking down in hopeless despair, to weave idle 
fables about Jupiter and Juno, Apollo or Diana. But 
the difficulties under which he laboured are abundantly 
illustrated by the fact, that the light which he poured 
upon the human intellect taught other ages how^ 
unworthy was the religion of his day of the man who 

* Johnson. Preface to Shakspeave. 



76 THE DUTIES OF 

was compelled to use it. " It seems to me," says 
Longlnus, '' that Homer, when he ascribes dissensions, 
jealousies, tears, imprisonments, and other afflictions 
to his deities, hath, as much as was in his power, 
made the men of the Iliad gods, and the gods men. 
To man when afflicted, death is the termination of 
evils ; but he hath made not only the nature but the 
miseries of the gods eternal." 

If then so great results have flowed from this one 
effort of a single mind, what may we not expect from 
the combined efforts of several, at least his equals in 
power over the human heart? If that one genius, 
though groping in the thick darkness of absurd idola- 
try, wrought so glorious a transformation in the char- 
acter of his countrymen, what may we not look for 
from the universal dissemination of those writings, on 
whose authors was poured the full splendour of eternal 
truth? If unassisted human nature, spell-bound by a 
childish mythology, have done so much, w^hat may 
we not hope for from the supernatural efforts of pre- 
eminent genius, which spake as it was moved by the 
Holy Ghost ? 

To sum up in a few words what has been said. If 
we would see the foundations laid broadly and deeply, 
on which the fabrick of this country's liberties shall 
rest to the remotest generations ; if we would see her 
carry forward the work of political reformation, and 
rise the bright and morning star of freedom over a 
benighted world ; let us elevate the intellectual and 
moral character of every class of our citizens, and 
especially let us imbue them thoroughly with the 
principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ, 



AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 77 

You are well aware, that to carry into effect this 
design, is one of the objects in which good men of 
every denomination are now so actively engaged. 
Having observed that the precepts of the Bible take 
more immediate effect when repeatedly inculcated 
upon man by teachers set apart for this purpose, 
missionary societies have been formed to furnish such 
teachers to the destitute. Having found that the 
proportion of ministers of the gospel is lamentably 
insufficient to meet the wants of our increasing popu- 
lation, they have formed societies, and endowed 
institutions, with the design of qualifying a greater 
number for the pastoral office. And again, it has been 
observed, that youth is the season for instilling into 
man the elements of knowledge, and the principles of 
piety ; and hence the Christian world is universally en- 
gaged in the benevolent work of Sabbath school instruc- 
tion. And here, in passing, I cannot but remark, that if 
indeed our country shall be saved from that ruin 
which has awaited other republics, and shall move 
steadily onward in that career of glory which Provi- 
dence has opened before her ; next to the circulation 
of the Scriptures, to the Sabbath school more than to 
any thing else, do I verily believe that salvation will 
be owing. 

You see then that these institutions all have one 
common object in view, to elevate the intellectual and 
moral character of our people. Here is true philan- 
thropy ; here is Christian patriotism. And this is 
one reason why we so often present these charities to 
your notice. When, therefore, we ask you to aid us 
in circulating the Bible, in sending the gospel to the 



fB 



THE DUTIES OF 



destitute, or in educating the ignorant, you must not 
look unkindly at us ; for we plead the cause of our 
country, of liberty, and of man. Let us all unite in 
spreading abroad the means of knowledge and of 
religion ; let us do our utmost to render our nation a 
church of our Lord Jesus Christ ; 



Then, howe'er crowns and coronets be rent, 

A virtuous populace shall rise the wliile, 

And stand a wall of fire, to guard their native soil. 



And lastly, I would urge you, my brethren, to 
activity in these labours of charity, by presenting at a 
single view, the momentous results with which they 
seem to me indissolubly connected; but I feel myself 
utterly incompetent to the task. 

When I reflect that some of you who now hear me 
will see fifty millions of souls enrolled on the census 
of these Lnited States; when I think how small a 
proportion our present efforts bear. to the pressing 
wants of this mighty population, and how soon the 
period in which those wants can be supplied will have 
forever elapsed ; when, moreover, I reflect how the 
happiness of man is interwoven with the destinies of 
this country; — I want language to express my con- 
ceptions of the importance of the subject; and yet I 
am aware that those conceptions fall far short of the 
plain, unvarnished truth. When I look forward over 
the long tract of coming ages, the dim shadows of 
unborn nations pass in solemn review before me, and 
each, by every sympathy which binds together the 
whole brotherhood of man, implores this country to 
fulfil that destiny to which she has been summoned 



AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 79 

by an all-wise Providence, and save a sinking world 
from temporal misery and eternal death. 

In view of all these considerations, let me again 
urge you to be in earnest in this cause. I would 
plead with you, instead of engaging in political strife, 
to put forth your hands to the work of making your 
fellow citizens wiser and better. I pray you think 
less of parties and more of your country; and instead 
of talking about patriotism, to be indeed patriots. 
And especially would I charge you to give to this 
cause not only your active exertions, but your unceas- 
ing prayers. Ye who love the Lord, keep not silence, 
and give him no rest, until he establish this his Jeru- 
salem, and make her a praise in the whole earth. 
God be merciful to us and bless us, and cause his face 
to shine upon us ; that his name may be known on 
earth, and his saving health unto all nations. And to 
him shall be the glory, forever. Amen. 



TH£ 



DEATH 



OF 



THE EX-PRESIDENTS. 



2 SAMUEL I. 19. 

HOW ARE THE MIGHTY FALLEN ! 

Events yet fresh in your recollection, brethren, 
sufficiently explain my reasons for the choice of these 
words on the present occasion. Our two most distin- 
guished fellow citizens, men whose exertions have led 
to greater results than perhaps any others of the 
present age, have within a few days been gathered to 
their fathers. A remarkable train of circumstances 
attending these events, has seemed to me to intimate 
that God has designed by them to teach us some 
important and very definite lesson of instruction. 
This is my apology, if apology be needed, for deviating 
so far from my usual practice, as to devote a portion 
of this day to the consideration of aught which does 
not bear directly upon the great question of your 
souls' salvation. 



DEATH OF THE EX-PRESIDENTS. 81 

I am yet more encouraged to attempt an improve- 
ment of the present occasion, by the consideration that 
the events to which I have alluded, have awakened 
but one train of feeling throughout the whole people 
of the United States. All mourn equally, and equally 
for each of the patriots who have fallen. The agitation 
of party for a moment subsides, and every man in- 
stinctively lays aside the badges of poluical distinction, 
as he draws near to that grave which is receiving to 
its bosom the venerated remains of the fathers of his 
country. It is a moment most favourable to national 
reflection. The attempt to direct so universal a sen- 
sation to some profitable result, cannot surely be 
unworthy of a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 
It is my design, this afternoon, briefly to enumerate 
the services, and sketch the characters of the two late 
Presidents of the United States, and then direct your 
attention to such reflections as seem most naturally to 
arise out of the circumstances of their lives and their 
deaths. 

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, entered 
upon active life, during the most eventful period of 
this country's history, at the commencement of that 
contest which led to our national independence. The 
intellectual superiority of each was immediately dis- 
covered, and each shone with distinguished brilliancy 
in that constellation of pre-eminent talent, with which 
the native State of each was at that time illuminated. 
Both took an active part in the revolutionary measures 
adopted by their respective Colonial Legislatures, 
both were members of the first Continental Congress, 
both stood in the very first rank among the great men 
8 



82 ON THE DEATH OF 

of whom that assembly was composed, and no assem- 
bly on earth could ever boast of greater, both were 
members of the committee for drafting the Declaration 
of Independence : they alone composed the sub-com- 
mittee ; the one drafted it, and the other seconded 
and most eloquently supported the motion for its 
adoption; and both, in veriest truth, putting- their 
hands to that memorable instrument, pledged to the 
support of it, their lives, and fortunes, and their sacred 
honor. 

During the whole contest for our national independ- 
ence, each in his appropriate sphere devoted his 
undivided efforts to the object of securing the liberties 
of this country. Both were called to stations of the 
utmost responsibility ; and each so discharged every 
trust, as to increase that confidence which his fellow 
citizens had before reposed in him. Both were 
charged with important embassies to the most distin- 
guished courts of Europe, and both conciliated the favor 
of nations hostile to each other, towards these new 
Republics of the West. Both returned home to fill 
yet more distinguished stations in the councils of their 
native country. Each, in the order of age, was called 
to the highest office in the gift of the people ; each 
was at the head of a powerful and opposing political 
party, and each retired from office, followed by the 
mingled praise and reprobation of his fellow citizens. 
Both lived to see the animosity of party disappear, 
and to receive, in a greater share than has fallen to 
the lot of any other man, Washington only excepted, 
all the homage which the world could render to talents 
and to virtue. Both have lived to behold the princi- 



THE EX-PRESIDENTS. 83 

pies which they so ably advocated, and which but for 
them had perhaps never prevailed, triumph in another 
portion of this vast continent, and agitate the nations 
of Europe with aspirations after liberty. Both lived 
to witness that sun arfse, which ushered in the second 
half century after the signature of the declaration of 
independence, and ere that sun had descended, both 
had fallen asleep. He who drafted the instrument, 
died on the hour in which it was signed, and he who 
seconded the motion for its adoption, on the hour in 
which it was first promulgated. 

If great action indicates great talent, then has the 
human race numbered but few men more talented 
than these. If it be in the power of man, nay, I had 
almost said, of Providence itself, to confer distinction, 
then were these men distinguished. If it be any glory 
to lay the foundation of a mighty nation, and erect 
the superstructure at a crisis as appalling as the world 
has ever seen ; if it be any glory to impart a new and 
a happier direction to the public sentiment of the age, 
and to pour the gladness of a brighter hope upon the 
destinies of futurity, then were the lives glorious of 
the tw^o late Presidents of the United States of America. 

The talents of these illustrious men, though of the 
highest order, were, in many respects, dissimilar. 
Each was peculiarly formed by Divine Providence 
for that station which he was called to fill, and for the 
temperament of that people whom he was designed to 
influence. If the almost metaphysical acuteness of 
the one, was better fitted for the calculating habits of 
the North, the glowing imagination of the other, was 
better adapted to the kindling impetuosity of the South. 



84 ox THE DEATH OF 

The power of the one, was more visible in the firm- 
ness, that of the other, in the elasticity of his intellec- 
tual movement. The one, was distinguished for 
logical conclusion, the other, for intuitive percep- 
tion. Tlie one, convinced by unanswerable argument, 
the olher, by self-evident illustration. In the one, 
the powers of the understanding were more exclusive, 
in the other, they were more combined with those of 
the imagination. The natural bias of the one, was 
probably towards ethics, that of the other, towards 
philosophy. The papers of Mr. Adams, signed 
Novanghis, and published at the commencement of 
the Revolution, for legal erudition, for manly vigor, 
for subtle discrimination, and political shrewdness, are 
surpassed by nothing that I have ever seen in the 
English Language. The philosophical works, and 
the diplomatic correspondence of Mr. Jefferson, have 
taken the rank of^ acknosvledged models in those 
species of composition. 

Both were thoroughly learned, but their learning 
was of a different character. The researches of the 
one, were more confined within the limits of his orig- 
inal profession ; those of the other, were more 
expanded over the wide field of human investigation. 
The one, was more remarkable for the depth, the 
other, for the extent of his acquisitions. The one, 
was the greater lawyer, the other, the more original 
philosopher. Both were enthusiastic admirers of the 
ancient classics, and specially of the ancient orators ; 
but whilst the one occupied his leisure in the study of 
their ethics, the other surrendered himself at will, to 
the magic of their poetry. 



THE EX-PRESIDENTS. 85 

As to their patriotism, it is impossible to institute a 
comparison. Patriotism is a disposition of mind, of 
which the differences can only be measured by greater 
and less. But the patriotism of these illustrious men 
admitted of no such distinction. Each consecrated 
his entire self to the public good. There was no 
sacrifice which one would and the other would not 
have made for his country ; for either of them, for 
that country, would have sacrificed his all. Each at 
the commencement of the Revolution relinquished the 
most flattering prospects when he embarked in the 
cause of liberty ; each stood unmoved and immovable 
in the most fearful hour of his country's trial ; each 
afterwards pursued measures which he knew to be 
unpopular, because he believed them to be wise ; 
and, after lives devoted exclusively to the public 
service, and in situations of confidential trust, the one 
died in the possession of a bare competence, and tha 
other, under many and distressing embarrassments. 

As statesmen, they had different views of the means 
by which the prosperity of this country might be most 
successfully advanced. The one looked with more 
favor upon commercial, the other upon agricultural 
enterprise. The bias of the one, was towards a more 
efficient, and that of the other, towards a more popular 
form of civil constitution. It is somewhat remarkable, 
that the notions of the one, though he lost his popu^ 
larity, prevailed, while those of the other, though he 
retained his influence, have been abandoned. No one 
at the present day will deny, that they differed from 
honest and patriotic conviction. That powerful argu^ 
ments may be urged in favor of both of these courses of 
8^ 



86 ON THE DEATH OF 

national policy, no reflecting man can doubt ; but 
which is the true policy for this country, nothing but 
the experience of a century can decide. It must de- 
pend upon events which no being but Omniscience can 
foresee. And even after this shall have been decided, 
it will perhaps be equally impossible to declare which 
was endued with the farthest and most clear-sighted 
forecast ; for the attachment of each to the one or to 
the other system, may very fairly be attributed to the 
different place, and the dissimilar associations, of their 
early education. 

They differed, perhaps, more as politicians than in 
any other aspect of character. The one moved, 
with inconceivable power, the more visible ; the 
other touched, with incomparable address, the more 
occult springs of human action. The one felt with 
accuracy the stronger throb of public sentiment; the 
other observed, with unerring tact, its finer pulsations. 
The talents of the one, bold, vehement, and yet wary, 
would have been more fully developed as the leader 
of an opposition ; while those of the other, equally 
bold, but collected and foresighted, would have shone 
with more distinction at the head of an administration. 
The one, was liable to err from inflexibility of purpose ; 
the other, to be led astray by the brilliancy of a first 
conception. The first, unbending in purpose, would 
have wrought out the greatest possible amount of result 
from any measure which he could have carried ; the 
other, inexhaustible in expedient, if he could not carry 
one measure, would have carried another, and out of 
several which might be presented, would have accom- 
phshed his purposes with almost equal certainty. 



THE EXPRESIDENTS. 87 

In manners, both were emphatically shnple and 
unostentatious, and in the various relations of private 
life, both are represented to have been amiable and 
exemplary. Each left his family and his own imme- 
diate neighborhood, the seat of sincere and deepfelt 
lamentation. Each, since his retirement from public 
life, has devoted him.self to the benefit of the rising 
generation. The one, has been for several years 
assiduously engaged in organizing a university for his 
native State ; the other, from his own limited finances, 
has endowed an academy in his native town. 

With the circumstances attending the last moments 
of these illustrious men, you are already well ac- 
quainted. I shall not, therefore, attempt to awaken 
your sympathies by their recital. The occasion does 
not demand it. Every instance of mortality conveys 
its own appropriate lesson ; and though that lesson be 
always solemn, it is not always, nor is it in the present 
case, particularly mournful. By a remarkable train 
of coincidences in the present instance. Divine Provi- 
dence seems to have designed to direct our attention 
to some lesson of peculiar instruction. Let us then, 
rather, endeavour to improve the present dispensation 
by deriving from it those admonitions, which it is so 
evidently intended to convey. 

1. The lives of these two distinguished men, teach 
us then, in the first place, the evanescent nature of 
party excitement. 

Many of you will very well remember, when these 
two men, whose memory we all so deeply and univer- 
sally revere, were the leaders of violent and opposing 
parties, and when each reaped his full share of political 



88 ONTHEDEATHOF 

adulation and political abuse. The success of the 
one over the other was celebrated with the intoxicated 
joy of a national deliverance, or deplored with the 
bitter lamentation of a national calamity. And when 
the parlies, which each had respectively led, passed 
into other hands, the warfare was continued with 
unabated fury. Each was made in his retirement the 
object of unqualified abuse. The spirit of party 
pervaded all ranks of society, and mingled its bitter 
waters with all the relations of civil and domestic life. 
It kindled into a flame the baser passions of the 
ignorant and vicious. Our cities were disgraced with 
mobs, and in some cases polluted with blood. Aline 
of distant, and decided separation was drawn, be- 
tween even the more intelligent adherents of the two 
conflicting interests. A man might expect that his 
bosom friend would look coldly upon him, if he were 
bold enough to allow either purity of motive, or wisdom 
of conduct, to the measures of his opponents. The 
most intimate ties of relationship were sundered. 
The father was arrayed against the son, and the son 
against the father ; a man's foes became those of his 
own household. And yet more, 1 am ashamed to 
say, this same spirit of party infused its hateful influ- 
ences into the services and devotions of the sanctuary 
of God. You would hear a congregation of immortal 
beings, nay, you would hear pious men, asking con- 
cerning a minister of the gospel, not. Is he devout, but, 
What are his politics ? The very sine qua non of his 
acceptableness, was his supporting their candidate, 
and approving their measures ; and it was no serious 
disqualification if he were prepared, when the occasion 



THE EX-PRESIDENTS. 89 

presented, to anathematize their opponents. And thus 
the pulpit was desecrated by political philippics and 
personal abuse. Nothing could be heard or talked 
of but politics. It seemed as though the intellectual 
and moral vision ol" our citizens were distorted, and 
nothing within the whole compass of knowledge could 
be seen but in its relation to the interests of party. 
A universal mania had seized upon the whole com- 
munity. The ordinary topics of conversation were 
tame, and the ordinary occupations of life uninter- 
esting ; nay, the salvation of the soul itself seemed 
unimportant, in comparison with the all absorbing 
question, which of these two political parties should 
be uppermost. 

And now, what has become of all this mighty 
clamour ? Passed away, and, we devoutly hope, for- 
ever ! Where are the causes for this wide spread 
commotion, which threatened to shake our union to its 
centre } 1 do not believe there is one of you who 
can now remember them. You are surprised to find 
that you could have imagined so broad distinctions, 
where there was so little difference, and decided so 
promptly where there was so much reason to hesitate. 
The most zealous partisan among you is most 
ashamed of those actions in which he then most 
publicly exulted. And how changed is the feeling of 
all of us towards the two illustrious leaders, whose 
death we deplore ! Separated, though for a while 
they were in life, in their deaths they cannot be 
divided. The eulogy of the one, is by the Providence 
of God, of necessity, as well as of choice, the eulogy 
of the other. Throughout this whole continent, their 



90 ox THE DEATH OF 

former adherents and their former opponents, bend 
over their common grave without one discordant 
feeling, and in the weeds of undissembled sorrow, ren- 
der their homage of heartfelt admiration equally to 
each. The man would not now be tolerated in any 
assembly of this country, who should attempt to 
eulogize one at the expense of the other. So tran- 
sient is the excitement of party. Thus certainly does 
time correct the decisions of passion. It is to me, 
evident, that to teach us this lesson is one of the 
designs of Divine Providence in the present dispensa- 
tion. In it, I hear the voice of God calling upon the 
citizens of this country, to bury in this common grave 
every vestige of party animosity, and to treasure up 
the instruction of this day's recollections for the 
benefit of succeeding ages. 

2. The events which we have noticed teach us 
the utter worthlessness of party distinctions. 

These venerable men were once, as we have 
remarked, the leaders of two opposite political parties. 
Each held as uncontrollable a sway over the movements 
of his adherents, and each v/as as worthy of that rank, 
as any men who have ever been thus elevated. But 
now that the excitement of party has subsided, who 
considers this as adding one iota to their well earned 
reputation ? Who records this upon the catalogue of 
their glories ? Of all the millions who have mourned 
their deaths and honored their memories, who is there 
that has thought or has cared which was the federal- 
ist, and which w*as the republican ? We see, every 
w^here, a disposition universal, as it is honorable, to 
pass over this question in silence, and to consider 



THE EX-PRESIDENTS, 91 

these events as accidentSj which, though they could 
not be avoided, are not now to be remembered. This 
silence teaches us, that at this moment, we consider 
their party elevation as forming the shade, rather than 
the light, upon the picture of their history. We do 
not so readily forget what is illustrious in the memory 
of the beloved dead. 

You cannot then but perceive, that, in the deliberate 
opinion of their fellow citizens, party eminence adds 
nothing to their reputation. No, great as they were 
by nature, and distinguished by circumstances, with 
no other claim to respect than that which political 
party confers, so soon as the excitement which upheld 
them had subsided, both would have sunk to unhonored 
graves. And thus must it be always. Party distinct- 
ion must, of necessity, be as evanescent as the excite- 
ment from which it arises is fluctuating. It must 
always be the sport of circumstances, beyond the 
foresight and out of the control of any being but the 
Omniscient and Almighty God. The man who 
yesterday rode upon the curling crest of its topmost 
wave, is to-day descending to the abyss 5 and it is well 
if he be not to-morrow cast off, the helpless and pitiable 
victim of misguided ambition. 

3. We are taught by these events the true basis 
of political reputation. 

The meteor glare which once shone upon the 
names of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson is extin- 
guished, but these names are yet resplendent with 
glory. No one thinks of them as politicians, and yet 
they are remembered, and will be remembered forever. 
They lived for their country, and although they were 



92 OXTHEDEATHOF 

by accident they leaders of party, the loved not their 
party, but their country. They conferred substantial 
benefits upon man, and man will never forget them. 
On this adamantine basis rests their hope of earthly 
immortality. 

A momentary popularity may confer evanescent dis- 
tinction, or it may conduct a man to elevated office, but it 
cannot work impossibilities. It cannot make falsehood 
fact, nor turn the truth into a lie. It cannot make 
the man who has not sought his country's good, his 
country's benefactor. And let us all remember that 
history will inquire, nay, the deliberate judgment of 
our own age will inquire, not what a man has said, 
but what has he done ; and the meed of praise will 
be awarded to him alone who has done worthily. 

Here then, we pray you, ye men of the world, 
learn a lesson of wisdom, c Ye would be numbered 
among your country's benefactors ; be then what ye 
; profess to be, the benefactors of your country. Ye 
inveigh continually against hypocrisy in religion, and 
m this we cordially join with you. But tell us, can 
any hypocrisy be more disgusting than that which is 
ringing perpetual changes on the sacred names of 
country, and principles, and freedom, and patriotism, 
when every reflecting man knows that ye believe not 
the one half of what ye utter, and are only promoting 
the interests of a particular party, or grasping at the 
emoluments of an ardently desired office. 

And here permit me to remark, that unless I have 
utterly misjudged, a laxity of sentiment is liable to 
prevail to a most alarming degree upon this very 
important subject. It seems now almost taken for 



THE EX-PRESIDENTS. 93 

granted, that a man who takes any share in political 
arrangements must, under all circumstances, act with 
his party, let them act right or wrong. Forswearing, 
at the outset, allegiance to conscience and to common 
sense, he must obey his political leader, let him com- 
mend what he will ; and applaud or decry a citizen in 
office or a candidate ibr office, not on account of his i 
merits or demerits, but because he is or is not num- 
bered witjj the adherents to a particular name. And, 
what is worse than all, I fear that there are not wanting 
professors of the religion of Jesus Christ to whom 
these remarks do in simple truth apply. 

Now, whether a Christian may or may not be a 
politician, I have no question whatever to raise. Itj 
must be left to his own conscience and to the provi-| 
dence of God, and may be innocent, or praise-worthy, \ 
or wrong, according to the circumstances of the partic- 
ular case. But this question decided, we beg leave 
to say, that a Christian has no right, any where, or 
under any circumstances, to be any thing else than a 
Christian. He must ask about a political as well as about 
any other act, the question. Is it right, or is it wrong? 
and by the answer to that question must he be guided. 
It is just as wicked to lie about politics as to lie about 
merchandise. It is just as immoral to act without 
reference to the law of God, at a caucus, as any 
where else. To prefer our own interests or the inter- 
ests of party to that of our country, is treason against 
that country, and sin against God. And it matters 
not whether that treason be perpetrated with a ballot 
or a bayonet, at the caucus or in the field. And still 
more, no man can more surely be putting an end to 
9 



94 ON THE DEATH OF 

his religion, than by frequenting any circle which he 
must enter without his religion. That man may yet 
find himself in eternity without his religion, and it 
may not be there quite so easy as it is on earth to 
resume it. ^' There, is no shuffling." ''Whosoever 
denieth me before men, him will I deny before my 
Father which is in heaven." ./ 

4. I remark, in the last place, that the lives which 
we have contemplated, will furnish to religious men a 
pleasing illustration of the nature of faith. 

Faith, we have often told you, is that which brings 
the future to bear upon the present, with all the 
power of a visible reality. It is the substance of 
things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. 
It was by political faith, that these illustrious men, 
and their no less illustrious associates, overcame. I 
can illustrate this in no manner so well; as by an 
extract from a letter written by one of them on the 
fifth of July, 1776, the day after the signature of the 
declaration of Independence. ''Yesterday the great- 
est question was decided which was ever debated in 
America, that these United States are and ought to 
be free and independent. The 4th of July will be 
a memorable epoch in the history of America. I am 
apt to believe it will be celebrated by succeeding 
generations as the great American festival. I am well 
aware of the toil and blood and treasure it will cost to 
maintain this declaration, and support and defend 
these States ; yet through all the gloom, I can see 
the rays of light and glory. I can see that the end is 
worth more than all the means, and that posterity will 
triumph, although you and I may rue it, which 1 hope 



THE EX-PRESIDENTS. 95 

we shall not." Now it was precisely by this noble 
disdain of the present and the visible, and by the yet 
more noble acting for the invisible and the future, that 
our fathers achieved the independence of their country, 
and surrounded their names with imperishable glory. 
And, on the contrary, the men who on that trying 
hour acted only for the present and the visible, lost 
even the too well beloved object of their base-born 
idolatry, and have consigned their names to merited 
and enduring contempt. 

We all duly appreciate the victories achieved by 
political faith. We all can estimate the glory of 
anticipating the events of a coming half century. Tell 
me, then, how much more glorious is it to anticipate 
the events of a coming eternity ? It is to this that the 
gospel exhorts us. Too many of you are at this 
moment under a bondage more galling than the yoke 
of political oppression. The visible and tangible 
world engrosses all your cares, and occupies all your 
affections. In the mean time, eternity is forgotten, 
and ye are living utterly reckless of your weal or wo 
beyond the grave. The voice of God is calling you 
to break loose from the fetters which surround you, 
to set your affections on things above, and not on 
things on the earth. The crown of eternal life is 
promised to him that overcometh. The retributions of 
a happy or of a miserable immortality are set before you, 
and Jesus Christ hath said, Unless a man deny him- 
self, and take up his cross and follow me, he cannot 
be my disciple. Such, my hearers, is the condition 
of our being. God hath ordained that the future can 
be obtained only by a contempt of the present ; nay, 



96 ON THE DEATH OF 

more, the present can be enjoyed only by living for 
the future. 

The great question of this short life then is, whether 
we will live by faith or by sight, for this life or for 
the next, for time or for eternity. The difference of 
result in either case, is precisely analogous to that which 
we have noticed when speaking of political faith. He 
who lives for the world that now is, loses the approbation 
of the heart-searching God, and his end is shame and 
everlasting contempt. He who, at the present, denies 
himself ungodliness and worldly lusts, and lives soberly, 
righteously, and godly, enjoys, while here, the peace 
which passeth all understanding, and is crowned, at 
the last, with glory, honor, and immortality. To 
this choice, every one of you is called; and let me tell 
you, every one of you is, of necessity, making it. 
You contemplate with wonder the mighty interests 
which were suspended on that moment which decided 
this nation's independence. But each one of you is 
called to a graver and more momentous decision. It 
is not, whether the sojourners on earth shall for a few 
years govern or be governed ; but whether immortal 
beings, and those beings yourselves, shall suffer or 
enjoy throughout the long, long ages of an infinite 
eternity. 

1 have spoken of the glories of patriotism and of the 
honors bestowed by an approving country. But here 
it is my duty to tell you, that the record of the patriot 
is written upon a world that shall be burnt up. The 
praise of man breaks not the silence of the grave, nor 
is it heard in that region which is beyond it. The 
only freedom celebrated there, is freedom from sin. 



THE EX, PRESIDENTS. 97 

The song which is sung by the multitude which no 
man can number, is unto Him that hath loved us, and 
washed us in his own blood, and made us kings and 
priests unto God. Better were it then, and therefore 
better is it now, that the tear of penitence gathered in 
your eye, than that the plaudits of a world should 
burst upon your ear. And at the last half hour of my 
life, were the country that I love bending before me 
in grateful admiration of patriotic service, much as I 
might prize her tribute before every thing earthly, I 
would turn away from the overwhelming spectacle, 
and, renouncing every claim to merit, would draw near 
to the throne of the Holy One of Israel, with the 
prevalent plea of the self-condemned publican, "God, 
be merciful to me, a sinner." ( Let us then by faith 
anticipate tbat solemn half hour, and the judgment 
day thar is beyond k, and whilst we labor without ''' 

ceasing for the welfare of tb# country which is our Qt'^ 
4w^}lingplaee for the night, fix our eye steadfastly on 
the morning of the resurrection, and look for a city 
which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is 
God. /Amen. 



y 



9* 



CERTAIN TRIUMPH 



OF 



THE REDEEMER. 



1 CORINTHIANS, XV. 25. 

FOR HE MUST REIGN, TILL HE HATH PUT ALL ENEMIES 
UNDER HIS FEET. 

Of the probability of a future event, considered 
simply and by itself^ we can know absolutely nothing. 
Thus, were it demanded whether or not at some point 
in the regions of infinite space, a planetary system 
existed similar to our own, I certainly could not 
answer. To affirm or to deny, would be alike un- 
philosophical ; for upon such a supposition, there is 
nothing upon which an opinion can be reasonably 
founded. If, however, any relations could be traced 
between the existence of such a system and some 
clearly established fact, the case would at once be 
altered. In proportion to the multiplicity and the 
strength of these relations, would our belief be strength- 
ened, until it arrived at a degree of conviction very 
little short of that produced either by mathematical 
demostration, or by the evidence of the senses. 



TRIUMPH OF THE REDEEMER. 99 

The same principles apply, if we were called upon 
to answer any other question that might be asked 
respecting such a planetary system. Were it de- 
manded whether its inhabitants were happy or misera- 
ble, 1 could not answer. To affirm or deny, would be 
equally premature ; for no media of proof on either 
side have been as yet advanced. Could it, however, 
be shown under what circumstances the inhabitants in 
question had been created, and what relations subsisted 
between their happiness or misery and the laws w^hich 
God had established for the government of his creatures^ 
then, as in the other case, might an opinion be reason- 
ably entertained. 

You observe, then, that in considering the probability 
of a future event, considered simply and by itself, there 
is no room for argument ; for, from the nature of the 
case, there is no evidence on which conviction can be 
founded. Argument is employed in examining the 
relations which exist between one event that is known, 
and another that is unknown or doubtful. These 
relations we have the ability to trace with greater or 
with less accuracy. Here is the true field for human 
investigation. It is thus that the probability of a future 
event is brought within the grasp of scientific investi- 
gation. Mere assertion here will avail nothing. If 
one man affirm, he must show why ; and if another 
deny, he must prove not only that the previous showing 
is inconclusive, but also that a contrary showing can be 
maintained. He who does otherwise, waives his 
claim to the character of a philosopher. 

The text asserts the certainty of a future event. It 
becomes a reasonable man to judge of its probability. 



100 THE CERTAIN TRIUMPH 

upon the same principles as he would judge of the 
probability of any other future event. 

It is said that Jesus Christ must reign, until he have 
put all enemies under his feet. The language is meta- 
phorical, and the metaphor is derived from the language 
of monarchical governments. A prince reigns wher- 
ever his laws are obeyed. By Christ's universal reign, 
then, it must be meant that his laws will be universally 
obeyed. These laws are contained in the New Testa- 
ment, a book which purports to be a revelation from 
God to man. Hence, Jesus Christ will have triumphed 
universally, or will have put all enemies under his feet, 
when the supreme authority of the Bible over the 
conscience of man shall be universally acknowledged, 
and when its precepts shall be obeyed by people of 
every nation and of every language. 

Beside this, various benefits resulting from this 
obedience to the Gospel are also predicted. These 
are briefly comprised in the promises, which teach that 
the miseries of the fall shall be abolished, and this 
earth become the abode of happiness and peace. 

Now, considering the event simply and by itself, no 
one could decide, either for or against its probability. 
Our only mode of ascertaining any thing certain in 
regard to it, is to consider the relations which it sustains 
to things which exist, or to the laws which God has 
established for the government of the universe. Thus, 
we may inquire whether the moral system contained 
in the Gospel have any such relations to the sensitive 
part of our nature as will warrant us to expect its uni- 
versal reception. We may examine whether the 
Being, who, by the acknowledgment of all, governs 



OF THE REDEEMER. 101 

the universe, have given any intimations on this subject. 
Or we may observe whether the moral forces, which 
direct the movement of society, have not been so 
combined that such an event must be the necessary 
result. Now all these, and various others that might 
be adduced, are as fair topics of arguments as any 
other. If, on such grounds as these, we argue the 
question fairly, it will not be sufficient to answer us 
by a smile, or an epithet, or a sarcasm. There is 
argument neither in drollery nor in abuse. If a man 
assert the improbability of what we attempt to prove, 
he must show not only that the relations which we 
have attempted to illustrate do not exist, but, also, 
that other relations do exist, which establish that im- 
probability. 

So much for the nature of the argument. We now 
come to the argument itself. We shall endeavor to 
show, that the Gospel of Jesus Christ will universally 
prevail. 

I. From its peculiar adaptedness to gratify the 
wants of the sensitive part of our nature, 

II. From the intimations, in the history of the 
world, which the Creator of the universe has given, 
that such is his determination. — And, 

III. From the fact, that the elements of society 
have been so combined, that, at some time or other, 
such must be the necessary result. 

I. It is probable that the Gospel of Jesus Christ 
will universally prevail, from its peculiar adaptedness 
to gratify the wants of the sensitive part of our nature. 

By the sensitive part of our nature, I mean those 
attributes of mind, which are affected either pleasantly 



102 THE CERTAIN TRIUMPH 

or painfully, by facts that do, and also by those that 
do not, address themselves exclusively to the organs 
of sense. It is, therefore, in this discussion, taken 
for granted, that we possess taste, which is gratified 
by our progress in the knowledge of the qualities and 
relations of things, which delights in the beautiful and 
glories in the vast ; and, also, conscience, which is 
susceptible of affections peculiar to itself upon the 
doing of right or the commission of wrong; and that 
these affections, so far as the history of man has been 
traced, have had more to do than any other with his 
happiness or misery. Taking these facts for granted, 
it is not difficult to foretell what sort of intellectual 
and moral exhibitions will be most widely disseminated, 
transforming the human character and directing the 
human will. It is upon the supposition that we may 
thus judge what will in a particular manner affect the 
human mind, that the whole science both of criticism 
and rhetoric is founded. 

I have said that taste is gratified by progress in the 
knowledge of the qualities and relations of things, or 
by striking exhibitions of what is commonly called 
relative beauty. Hence the pleasure with which we 
contemplate a theorem of widely extended application 
in the sciences, or an invention of important utility in 
the arts. Now, it is found that the material universe 
has been so created as admirably to harmonize with 
this principle of our nature. The laws of matter are 
few and comparatively simple, but their relations are 
multiplied even to infinity. The law of gravitation 
may be easily explained to an ordinary man, or even 
to an intelligent child. But who can trae^ one half 



OF THE REDEEMER. 103 

of its relations to things solid and fluid, things aninfiate 
and inaninaate, to the very form of society itself, to 
this system, to other systenns, and, in fine, to the 
mighty masses of this material universe ? The mind 
delights to carry out such a principle to its ramified 
illustrations ^ and hence it cherishes, as its peculiar 
treasure, a knowledge of these principles themselves. 
Thus was it, that the discovery of such a law gave 
the name of Newton to immortality, reduced to har- 
mony the once apparently discordant movements of 
our planetary system, taught us to predict the events 
of coming ages, and to explain what before had been 
hidden since the creation of the world. 

Now, he who will take the trouble to examine will 
perceive, in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, a system of 
ultimate truths in morals, in a very striking manner 
analogous to these elementary laws of physics. In 
themselves, they are few, simple, and easy to be 
understood. Their relations, however, as in the 
other case, are infinite. The moral principle, by 
which you can easily teach your little child to regulate 
its conduct in the nursery, will furnish matter for the 
contemplation of statesmen and sages. It is the only 
principle on which the decisions of cabinets and courts 
can with safety be founded, and is, of itself, sufficient 
to guide the diplomatist through all the mazes of the 
most intricate negotiation. Let any one who pleases 
make the experiment for himself. Let him take one 
of the rules of human conduct which the Gospel pre- 
scribes, and, having obtained a clear conception of it, 
just as it is revealed, let him carry it out in its un- 
shrinking application, to the doings and dealings of 



104 THE CERTAIN TRIUMPH 

men. At first, if he be not accustomed to generali- 
zations of this sort, he will find much that will stagger 
him, and he perhaps will be ready hastily to decide 
that the ethics of the Bible were never intended for 
practice. But, let him look a little longer, and medi- 
tate a little more intensely, and expand his views a 
little more widely, or become, either by experience 
or by years, a little older, and he will more and more 
wonder at the profoundness of wisdom and the univer- 
sality of application of the principles of the Gospel. 
With the most expanded views of society, he can go 
no where, where the Bible has not gone before him. 
With the most penetrating sagacity, he can make no 
discovery which the Bible has not long ago promul- 
gated. He will find neither application which inspira- 
tion did not foresee, nor exception against which it has 
not guarded ; and he will, at last, sink down in humble 
adoration of the wisdom of Jesus of Nazareth, con- 
vinced that he is the wisest man as well as the pro- 
foundest philosopher, who yields himself up, in meek- 
ness and simplicity of spirit, to the teachings of the 
Saviour. 

Now, with these universal moral principles the 
Bible is filled. At one time, you find them explicitly 
stated ; at another, merely alluded to ; here, standing 
out in a precept; there, retiring behind a reflection; 
now, enwrapped in the drapery of a parable, then 
giving tinge and coloring to a graphically drawn 
character. Its lessons of wisdom are thus adapted 
to readers of every age, and of every variety of intel- 
lectual culture. Hence no book is adapted to be so 
universally read as the Bible. No other precepts are 



OF THE REDEEMER, 105 

of SO extensive application, or are capable of guiding 
us under so difficult circumstances. None other imbue 
the mind with a spirit of so deep forethought and so 
expansive generalization. Hence, there is no book 
v^hich expands the intellect like the Bible. It is the 
only book which offers, a reasonable solution of the 
moral phenomena which are taking place around us. 
Hence, there is the same sort of reason to believe 
that the precepts of the Bible will be read, and studied, 
and obeyed, as there is to believe that the system of 
Newton will finally prevail, and eventually banish 
from the languages of man the astronomical dreams 
of Vishnu or of Gaudama. 

There are, however, other exhibitions of taste, which 
present no less interesting illustrations of the adapted- 
ness of the Bible to the nature of man. It is while in 
the exercise of this faculty, that he delights in the 
beautiful, glories in the vast, and becomes susceptible 
of the tenderness of the pathetic. I need not mention 
that these are among the most pleasing of our in- 
tellectual operations, nor that we eagerly search, in 
every direction, for the objects of their appropriate 
gratification. 

To illustrate the sublimity and beauty of the Holy 
Scriptures would, however, demand Hmits far more 
extensive than the present discussion will allow. I 
will, therefore, merely direct your attention to two 
considerations, which I select, not as the most striking, 
but as somewhat the most susceptible of brevity of 
illustration. The first is, the scriptural conceptions of 
character ; the second, the scriptural views of futurity. 

It is to be remembered, that the Bible contains by 
10 



106 THE CERTAIN TRIUMPH 

far the oldest memorials of our race. Much of it was 
written by men who had scarcely emerged from the 
pastoral state, and who had acquired but little of the 
knowledge, even then possessed, either in the arts or 
the sciences. There was nothing in the circumstances 
in which they were placed, to give either elevalion to 
character, or beauty, or sublimity, to their conceptions 
of it. And yet, these conceptions are most strikingly 
diverse from every thing, which we elsewhere behold 
in all the records of antiquity. The heroes of the 
pagan classics are, for the most part, either sycophants 
or ruffians, as they are swayed, alternately, by cunning 
or by passion. The objects of their enterprises are 
trifling and insignificant. The narrative of them is 
valuable, neither for moral instruction, nor yet for 
elevated views of human nature, either in the individ- 
ual or in society, but for bursts of eloquent feeling 
•and delineations of nature, everywhere the same, and 
always speaking the same language into the ear of 
Genius. The world, in its moral progress, has long 
since left behind it the ancient conceptions of distin- 
guished character. Who would now take for his 
model Achilles, or Hector, or Ulysses, or Agamemnon ? 
What mother would now relate their deeds to her 
children ? How different a view is presented by the 
holy company of Patriarchs ; Abraham, that beaute- 
ous model of an eastern prince ; Moses, that wise 
legislator ; David, the warrior poet ; Daniel, the far- 
sighted premier ; and Nehemiah, the inflexible patriot. 
The world still looks up with reverence to these moral 
examples ; they are now as profitable models for 
contemplation, as they were at the beginning. 



■ OF THE REDEEMER. 107 

But if we would consider this subject in its strongest 
light, let us bring together the scriptural and classical 
characters of the same age. Contrast the history of 
^neas by Virgil, the most gifted and the most humane 
of the Roman poets, with that of St. Paul, as it is 
found in the Acts and the Epistles. Contrast the 
faithless, vindictive, gross, cowardly, and superstitious 
freebooter, with the upright, meek, benevolent, sympa- 
thizing, but yet fearless, and indomitable apostle. Or, 
if the thought be not profane, compare the most splen- 
did conceptions either of ancient or modern times, 
with the character of Jesus of Nazareth, as it is delin- 
eated in the Gospels. We say, then, that if we would 
gratify our taste with true conceptions of elevated 
character ; if we would satisfy that innate longing 
within us after something better and more exalted 
than our eyes rest upon on earth ; it is to the Bible 
that we shall be, by the principles of our nature, irre- 
sistibly attracted. 

I spoke of the views which the Gospel gives of 
futurity. A brief alhision to a very few topics must 
suffice for this part of the subject. 

The Gospel alone has brought immortality to light. 
Instead of annihilation, or the transmigration of souls, 
or the dim place of shadows and of ghosts, or a para- 
dise of sensual gratification, it reveals to us an eternity 
of moral pleasure or of moral pain, the eternal weight 
of glory, or the wrath of God without mixture. 
Every thing else makes this world substance, and the 
other world shadow. The Bible alone makes this 
world shadow, and the other world substance. While 
it makes this transitory scene merely the vestibule of 



108 THE CERTAIN TRIUMPH 

our being, it alone renders it truly valuable, by making 
every moment and every purpose take strong hold of 
eternity. 

The Bible presents us with the only views of the 
character of Deity, which are in unison with the intel- 
lectual and moral aspirations of man. It tells us of a 
Being, who, the essential cause of all things, sustains 
the flight of a sparrow, and upholds, by his word, this 
measureless universe ; w^ho, unsearchable in wisdom, 
allows every creature whom he has made to fulfil the 
purposes of its individual will, while, at the same time, 
his counsel shall stand, and he will do all his pleasure ; 
who, infinite in compassion, is every where most inti- 
mately present to every one of us, sustaining the 
disconsolate, comforting the cast down, binding up 
the broken in heart, and pouring himself abroad, in 
blessing, upon the infinite creation which he every 
where pervades ; a God, so pure that the heavens 
are not clean in his sight; and so just, that He will 
forever, and every where, mete out to every creature, 
how high or how low soever, a destiny exactly accord- 
ing to the merit of his deeds. 

But specially worthy to be mentioned here, is the 
transcendent conception of the plan of redemption. 
The race of man fixed in hs opposition to the un- 
changeable attributes of the all glorious God ; the 
Son of God, undertaking the work of reconciliation ; 
the mission of Christ, his bitter death, his triumphant 
resurrection, and ascension to his primitive glory ; 
entire cleansing from the stain of guilt to all that will 
believe ; heaven, with its eternal weight of glory, 
freely otFered to the penitent ; the resurrection of the 



OF THE REDEEMER. 109 

dead ; the final judgment ; all things material fleeing 
away from the face of Him that sitteth upon the throne ; 
the irrevocable decision 5 the shouts of the redeemed ; 
the wailings of the lost ; these are some of the spirit- 
ual ideas which the Gospel has poured upon the 
darkened mind of sin-beclouded man. Now, alto- 
gether setting aside the fact, that, thus far, w^ierever 
these notions of religion have been taught, all others 
have soon ceased to be either known or thought upon, 
I ask whether a system, which sheds such light upon 
all the relations of man, which so fills his conceptions 
with all that is beautiful and sublime in morals, which 
proffers to him an immortality more glorious than 
aught that elsewhere the mind of man had conceived, 
must not, from the principles of human nature, be in 
the end universally received. 

We proceed to consider another fact to which we, 
in the commencement, alluded. It is that, from some 
cause or other, there has prevailed throughout our 
race a very universal feeling of guiltiness, and an 
apprehension, more or less distressing, of the wrath of 
Deity, on account of sin. 

Of the prevalence of this sentiment, you have 
manifest proof, in the terror with which unusual 
phenomena always inspire mankind ; in the univer- 
sality of sacrifices and of other means for appeasing 
the wrath of the gods, almost as numerous as the 
tribes of men on the earth ; and in the fact that in 
every nation particular individuals have been set apart, 
whose special business it has been to propitiate the 
Supreme Being. Nor is this consciousness of guilt 
the mere phantom of a savage's imagination. I doubt 
10* 



110 THE CERTAIN TRIUMPH 

whether there be a human being in this assembly, this 
evening, who hath not, more than once, so felt it as 
to exclaim, in the bitterness of a wounded spirit, what 
must I do to be saved ? 

Of the distress which this apprehension has occa- 
sioned, you may judge from the nature of the means 
which have been adopted to alleviate it. Hence, arose 
those costly temples, in the construction of which the 
wealth of nations was exhausted. Hence, smoked 
the hecatombs of classic story, and the countless vic- 
tims of the Jewish service. Hence, the mother has 
devoted her first-born to atone for her transgression, 
and the father has perished beneath the wheel of an 
idol's car. And hence it is, that every where, but in 
Protestant Christendom, the priesthood have exer- 
cised so resistless a sway over the opinions and actions 
of men. Claiming the exclusive prerogative of pro- 
pitiating the Deity, they have wielded at will the 
stormy passions of the multitude. Such has been the 
fact under every form of false religion. It shows us, 
at least, how agonizing is this apprehension, and that 
men will sacrifice any thing, if it can only be allayed. 
But neither the offerings of the laity, nor the services 
of the priesthood, could ever take away sin. The 
thoughtful heathen, as he retired from the classic 
temple and the bleeding victim, out of a conscience 
still pressed down under the weight of its own con- 
demnations, exclaimed, O that 1 knew where I might 
find Him ! The Hebrew, turning from the smoking 
altar and the atoning priest, still cried out, Wherewith 
shall I appear before God, and bow myself before the 
High God ? The Hindoo mother, returning childless 



OF THE REDEEMER. HI 

from the river that has swallowed up her babe, feels 
the sting of guilt still rankling in unmitigated agony ! 
The body of the devotee is crushed beneath the wheel, 
but ah ! the wound was far deeper. From that man- 
gled, bleeding corse, the soul is now set free, but yet 
uncleansed and in all her guiltiness, she appears before 
her God. Thus is it also in our own country and at 
the present day. A man, feeling the agony of a guilty 
conscience, may flee every where but to Calvary, and 
there is no relief for his anguish. But let him hear 
that God so loved the world that he gave his only 
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him shall 
not perish but have everlasting life ; let him cast 
himself for salvation upon Him whose blood cleanseth 
from all sin ; let him imbibe and practise the precepts 
of the Gospel, and he feels in his spirit that his deadly 
wound is healed. The peace that passeth under- 
standing is shed abroad in his soul. The Spirit 
witnesseth with his spirit that he is reconciled to God. 
From the dominion of sin, from the tyranny of the 
passions, from subjection to a sensual and transitory 
world, from the intolerable anguish of a wounded 
spirit, the Son has made him free, and he is free 
indeed. Being justified by faith, he has peace with 
God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and rejoices with 
joy that is unspeakable and full of glory. 

I am not speaking fables. I am speaking facts, — 
facts as well attested as any other in the history of 
man. Such are the wants of our nature, and such 
are the effects of the Gospel, wherever it is received 
in simplicity and in truth. And now, before we go 
any farther, let us reflect upon the ground which we 



112 THE CERTAIN TRIUMPH 

have gone over; let us remark how the Bible is 
adapted to gratify the taste, to ennoble the imagination, 
to expand the conception ; let us estimate the power 
of the religious principle, and the utter vanity and 
heartlessness of every thing else on which that princi- 
ple can fasten, and I ask every man to say, for him- 
self, whether, judging from its adaptedness to gratify 
the wants of our nature, it be not certain that it must 
in the end prevail. 

So much for the first argument. 
11. There is sound reason for believing that the 
Creator has given us assurance that the religion of the 
Bible shall universally prevail. 

I need scarcely repeat w4iat was said at the com- 
mencement of this discourse, that, without an exami- 
nation of the evidence, to decide whether such an 
event would take place, or whether God would reveal 
it, would be wholly unphilosophical. It cannot, how- 
ever, be denied, that some notion of the probability of 
an event may be deduced from a comparison of the 
act with the known character of the actor. Thus, it 
is not improbable that the Supreme Being has a 
design with regard to the destinies of this world, nor, 
as it is granted on all sides that he is infinitely merci- 
ful, is it improbable that he should design to remove 
the miseries which afflict us. Now, as the very thing 
said to be predicted, is, that these miseries are to be 
removed, there is surely neither intrinsic improbability 
in the thing itself, nor in the supposition that God 
should predict it. 

But we assert that God has given positive assurance 
that the Gospel shall prevail. To present the argu- 



OF THE REDEEMER. 113 

ment at length would be unsuitable for this occasion. 
We shall attempt merely a very brief illustration of 
the principle on which the argument for the divine 
inspiration of the Scriptures rests. 

You are aware, then, that the various events that 
come within our knowledge, take place in the manner 
of a regular and established series. Every link in 
this endless succession has its own antecedent and its 
own consequent. Hence are we enabled to use our 
reason, both in preparing for the future and in ac- 
counting for the past. 

Whenever, in any case, this stated connexion is 
discovered, so that one event is the invariable antece- 
dent of another, we call the first a cause, the second 
an effect. Thus, the falling of a shower is one event — 
the growth of vegetation is another. The connexion 
between them has, in certain circumstances, been 
found invariable ; and hence we say in summer that 
the rain has caused the grass to spring forth, and also 
that the springing forth of the grass is the effect of the 
shower. The same is true of intellectual changes. 
Thus, reflection is one state of mind, — knowledge is 
another. The connexion between them has been 
found invariable, and hence we say that reflection is 
the cause of knowledge, and that knowledge is the 
effect of reflection. 

When, however, we use these terms, we do not 
mean that the one event is the efficient cause of the 
other; that is, that it is the cause in such a sense 
that the one could produce the other, if there were 
nothing else existing in the universe. We merely 
mean that, in the present system, the one is made the 



114 THE CERTAIN TRIUMPH 

Slated antecedent of the other ; but we know not that 
it has any more efficient agency in its production than 
any other thing. God is the sole and only efficient 
cause. If he had seen fit, he could as well have 
arranged entirely different antecedents and conse- 
quents, or he could have [)roduced every change by 
itself, without having established any regular order of 
succession. But he has not seen fit thus to act. He 
has connected every thing in the manner tiiat we have 
shown. This we call the course of nature. It is 
God working according to the laws which he has been 
pleased to establish. And as He has established this 
manner of succession. He only can vary it. If, there- 
fore, it be clearly and palpably varied from^ it is 
equally clear and palpable that he himself must have 
varied it. 

You will observe also, that these laws of antecedence 
and consequence, or of cause and effect, pervade 
equally the whole system, material and immaterial, of 
which we form a part. Thus, belief is a slate of 
mind which no more arises without its appropriate 
cause, than the herb grows where there is no moisture. 
Each has its regular and stated antecedents. Other- 
wise, there could be no reliance upon testimony, and 
all history and all reasoning about facts would be the 
veriest nonsense. I cannot believe that I see an audi- 
ence before me, unless the antecedent be, that I see an 
audience. I cannot see an audience, unless the ante- 
cedent be, that an audience is present. Casualty in 
these intellectual changes would produce effects fur 
more deleterious to the interests of society, than any 
that could arise from the same cause in the material 



OP THE REDEEMER, ll6 

world. It would at once do away, universally, belief 
and every thing that is founded upon it. 

Let us now apply these principles to the case before 
us. It is, I suppose, granted, that a variation, clear 
and indisputable, from the established succession of 
cause and effect, or of antecedent and consequent, is 
a sufficient proof of the interposition of Deity; for none 
but Hini could have thus varied the mode of his own 
operation. Nor can it be denied that, if such a vari- 
ation from the acknowledged laws of cause and effect 
be indissolubly connected with instructions purporting 
to come from God, God does in fact render himself 
responsible for the truth of all that is thus delivered. 

Now, we say that the first promulgation of the 
Gospel of Jesus Christ was attended with such a 
variation from the laws of cause and effect, that the 
interposition of Deity must necessarily be supposed, 
in order to account for it; and, therefore, for the truth 
of whatever that Gospel reveals, the moral character 
of the Deity is responsible. 

The apostles, and disciples, and the men of that 
day did most certainly believe, that they saw the eyes 
of the blind opened, the ears of the deaf unstopped, 
the lepers cleansed, and the dead raised, by the word 
of Jesus of Nazareth ; and also, that, after having seen 
him crucified, dead, and burled, they saw him alive 
again, conversed with him, walked with him; and 
that they afterwards saw him, under most remarkable 
circumstances, ascend up into heaven. 

Now, I say, the question here really is not, whether 
there was any variation from the regular succession of 
cause and effect, but it is where was that variation. 



116 THE CERTAIN TRIUMPH 

Either these events took place at the word of Jesus 
Christ, or they did not. If they did take place, as the 
evangelists relate them, the variation consists in this, 
that God in this case suspended the laws of cause and 
effect, and made a single word to become the antece- 
dent of changes totally unlike to any which, either 
before or since, have ever been known. And if this 
be so, then He has intended torender himself respon- 
sible for all that has been taught in connexion with 
such an interposition. If, on the contrary, these 
events did not take place, at the word of Jesus Christ, 
then every individual of a great number of men either 
believed that they saw what they did not see, or else 
they saw what did not exist. There must have been, 
therefore, a variation from the laws of cause and effect, 
in the case of every several individual who supposed 
himself a spectator ; that is, instead of a variation in one 
case, there musthave been avariation in a thousand cases. 
Now such a departure from the laws of cause and effect 
could have been produced only by the Supreme Being, 
and it was inseparably connected with the promulgation 
of the Gospel. Just as much then, as in the other case, 
does it render the Supreme Being responsible for all 
that we find there, either as precept or as prophecy. 
On either supposition, the proof is full and decisive. 
This, then, is one view of the principles on which 
rests our belief that the agency of Deity was concerned 
in the promulgation of this system, and, therefore, that 
his veracity is responsible for the truth of it. Other 
views might be easily suggested. In the Old Testa- 
ment, the rites and ceremonies of the Jewish church, 
the segregation of the Jews from all other nations, the 



OF THE REDEEMER. 117 

facts connected with the prophecies which the sacred 
books contain, are inexplicable, upon any other sup- 
position. Beside these, the fact that a few fishermen 
of Galilee have discovered a new moral system, 
thousands of years in advance of their age, a system 
which does, beyond question, embody the moral laws 
by which the universe is governed, can be in no other 
manner explained. Grant that God spake, and all is 
revealed. Deny it, and all is mystery. Grant that 
God spake, and there is one miracle ; deny it, and 
there are ten thousand. 

Now, in the examination of evidence, there is no 
religion whatever. It is a mere matter of science, 
and it is to be decided according to the laws of science. 
In answer to what we have said, therefore, it will not be 
sufficient to laugh at religion, nor rail at enthusiasm. If 
a man disbelieves what we have here attempted to 
prove, let him show a reason for disbelieving it. Let 
him either show a fallacy in our reasonings, or else 
allow our conclusion. If he will do neither, let him 
confess that he does not believe, though he cannot 
tell why he does not, and thus that he waives the 
jurisdiction of reason, and puts himself on a level with 
the enthusiasts whom he so much derides. 

So much, then, for the evidence that the author of 
the material system around us, the supreme and ever 
blessed God, is the author of the system of religion 
contained in the Holy Scriptures. There are just as 
conclusive reasons for believing that it will universally 
prevail. Its prevalence is foretold in every variety of 
form ; it is interwoven with the principles of the 
system itself. 

11 



118 THE CERTAIN TRIUMPH 

The first promise after man's apostacy, " it shall 
bruise thy head," foretold enigmatically all the glory 
that we look for. In later ages it was revealed without 
a figure. As I live, all the earth shall be filled with 
the glory of the Lord, was the promise of Jehovah to 
Moses. Prophet after prophet, rapt in holy vision, 
foresaw the coming triumphs of the Redeemer, and 
rejoiced in the approaching subjection to his universal 
reign. " Ask of me, and I will give thee the Heathen 
for thy inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the 
earth for thy possession. Out of Zion shall go forth 
the law, and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem. 
And they shall beat their swords into ploughshares and 
their spears into pruning hooks ; nation shall no more 
lift up sword against nation, nor shall they learn w^ar 
any more." The same thing is taught by our Saviour 
in precept and in parable, and is abundantly to be 
inferred from the prayer which he hath taught us. In 
•all the writings of the apostles, it is so frequently 
alluded to, that to mention every passage in which it 
is either asserted or taken for granted, would occupy 
all the time which is set apart for the remainder of 
this discourse. 

But why need I mention particular passages. The 
very system itself presupposes its universal extension. 
If God had interfered at all in the promulgation of 
the Gospel, every word of that Gospel is true. A 
taint of guiltiness hath overspread our whole race. 
This world is in rebellion against the eternal God. 
Jesus Christ has appeared in our nature, by a mani- 
festation of infinite love, to win back our affection, 
and, by the offering up of Himself, to render consistent 



OF THE REDEEMER. 119 

with holiness our reconcih'ation to God. He came to 
reclaim a lost world from its wanderings ; to subdue 
to obedience this revolted province of Jehovah's 
empire ; and to give indubitable assurance that all 
this would yet be triumphantly accomplished. He, 
whom, on the holy mount, the Father, from the 
excellent glory, declared to be his well beloved Son, 
expired on the cross. And truly as there is a God 
in heaven, this world shall yet be redeemed. This 
earth, which has been moistened with a Saviour's 
blood, shall yet become his universal possession ; for 
it bears upon its solid surface the seal to the irrevocable 
covenant. The misery of sin, which Jesus Christ 
came to do away, shall cease ; and from every nation 
and people under the whole heaven shall ascend the 
universal shout. Salvation to Him that sitteth upon the 
throne, and to the Lamb forever ! 

in. Thirdly. The elements of society have been 
so combined as manifestly to tend to such a result as 
revelation has predicted. 

The nature of the proof in this case is as follows. 
It is taken for granted, that men are endowed with 
various desires essential to their existence in its present 
form. Many of these desires can be gratified only in 
that state of society in which not a part only but the 
whole obey the social laws which the Creator has 
established. Now, it can be shown, conclusively, 
that these laws are essentially the same as those 
revealed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Hence, 
when every man finds it for his own interest that 
himself and all other men should universally obey the 
precepts of the Gospel, it is evident that the love of 



120 THE CERTAIN TRIUMPH 

happiness essential to our sensitive nature, must in the 
end ensure their universal reception. 

I will endeavor to illustrate the principle on which 
this argument rests, by an allusion to the laws which 
regulate the accumulation of national wealth. 

The various substances of which this earth is com- 
posed are all designed for the benefit of man. Everyone 
of them possesses some quality by which it is capable 
of gratifying some human desire. But that quality must 
first be discovered^ and the substance in which it resides 
must be modified by the hand of industry^ before it can 
answer the purpose for w^hich it was designed. As 
soon as it has been thus modified, it becomes an article 
of wealth. And nations and individuals are denomi- 
nated rich, just in proportion to the number and the 
value of the articles which they possess, thus adapted 
to gratify the desires of man. 

We say that, in order to the production of wealth, 
the substances of nature must be modified by the 
hand of industry. Before, however, this can be 
done, the m'eans must be discovered for giving it the 
desired modification. Man has in himself no power 
to modify matter, except to the very small amount of 
his muscular strength. By his intellectual abiHty, 
however, he can discover and put in operation agents 
that will produce the effects which he desires. To 
illustrate what I mean, take the manufacture of sugar. 
The sweetness, which resides in the cane, must first 
be discovered, or the vegetable, though of itself intrin- 
sically valuable, would be useless. This is the work 
of mind. Again, man has no organs by which he can 
transform the juice into sugar, and unless it be thus 



OF THE REDEEMER. 121 

transformed, his former discovery is useless. He is, 
however, endowed with faculties, by which he can dis- 
cover certain qualities in fire and iron, which will ena- 
ble industry to produce the required result. This again 
is the work of mind. The principle here illustrated 
is universal. It applies to the production of wealth, 
or objects for the gratification of desire every where. 
And hence results the universal law, that, just in pro- 
portion as the human mind is most successfully stimu- 
lated to discovery and invention, and the body inured 
to vigorous labor, will the wealth of a nation increase, 
and it is not possible that it should increase in any 
other manner. 

Now it has been found, by the experience of ages, 
that the strongest stimulant which can possibly be 
applied to the productive energies both of body and 
of mind, is to allow every man to employ his whole 
power, physical and intellectual, in such manner as he 
chooses, if he do not so employ it as to interfere with 
the correspondent occupations of his neighbor. In 
other words, it has been found that nations grow rich 
and happy, just in proportion as every man, magistrate, 
and citizen, estimates every other man's happiness as 
dearly as his own ; that is to say, when every man 
obeys the universal law of human action contained in 
the Scripture, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy- 
self." This is the reason why justice blesses a nation 
in plenty, while injustice curses it with want. This is 
the reason why so many nations on the earth, with 
meagre find stinted physical advantages, abound in the 
comforts and even the luxuries of life, while regions of 
exhaustless fertility, under Mahometan or Papal des- 
11^ 



122 THE CERTAIX TRIUMPH 

potism, live from century to century on the brink of 
starvation. Thus is it that the Christian rehgion has 
frequently, in a few years, done more to promote the 
progress of civilization, than all other means united 
have ever done, in many generations. 

But this is not all. That a nation may grow rich, 
not only is it necessary that industry be exerted ; be- 
side this, the instruments with which it may w^ork, and 
the material on which it is to be employed, in other 
words, capital, must be accumulated. If, whatever is 
produced be immediately consumed on the gratification 
of the passions, not only are the means of future accu- 
mulation annihilated, but the power of the agent for 
labor is lessened, and hence must result an accelerated 
tendency to poverty. Capital can be accumulated 
only by self-denial, by the government of the passions, 
by investing all that portion of the results of industry, 
which is not needed for our temperate enjoyment, in 
some such manner as shall benefit the condition of our 
fellow-men. Now, this is just the discipline for which 
the Gospel prepares mankind. Its first lesson is self- 
denial. Except a man deny himself, he cannot be my 
disciple. At the very outset, then, it prescribes the 
entire subjugation of the passions, the very basis of all 
frugality. Another of its lessons is, the necessity of 
mdividual and universal industry. '' This we com- 
manded you, that if any man would not work neither 
shall he eat." Thus, while inculcating, as religious 
duties, industry and frugality, the Gospel teaches the 
soundest and most valuable lessons in the science of 
political economy. That nations, as well as individu- 
als, can grow rich on no other principles, is as evident 



OF THE REDEEMER. 123 

as demonstration. And, on the other hand, that a 
nation, practising the industry and frugality of the 
Gospel, must become wealthy, that is, must abound in 
all that is requisite to satisfy virtuous desire, is equally 
incontestable. Thus we see how closely is connected 
the prevalence of religion with the prosperity of an 
individual nation. 

Besides, where every individual accumulates wealthy 
the nation must accumulate it, and, hence, such a 
nation must have an annual amount of produce to 
offer in the markets of the world. But where shall 
she offer it. An indolent and profligate people, with 
imperfect skill and scanty capital, will have nothing to 
offer in return. It is not that they do not want the 
results of your labor and frugality, but that they have 
nothing wherewith to purchase them. A degraded 
and vicious people can never be valuable customers ; 
for they must always be very limited consumers. To 
be aware of the force of these considerations, compare 
our exports to a Heathen, with those to a Christian 
nation ; or those to a Protestant, w^th those to a 
Catholic nation ; or those to the island of Great Britain, 
with those to the fertile and thickly peopled shores of 
the Mediterranean. 

Thus you see that not only is it for the interest of 
every man that his fellow-men should obey the pre- 
cepts of the Gospel, it is also for the interest of every 
nation that every other nation should obey them. So 
thoroughly is universal philanthropy interwoven with 
the social system of this world. Thus clearly has 
God made the happiness of my fellow-men necessary 
to my own. An indolent, ignorant, and badly gov- 



124 THE CERTAIN TRIUMPH 

eriied nation is a pecuniary injury, as well as a disgrace, 
to every other nation on earth, and the soundest 
principles of political wisdom would teach us all to 
make an effort to reclaim it. Our own interest, and 
the interest of man every where, are, by the ordinance 
of the Creator, one. Benevolence is always the 
greatest sagacity. Hence, if we would render a 
nation a profitable customer, the surest means for 
accomplishing our object is, to furnish it with the 
Bible, the only certain means of intellectual and moral 
improvement. 

To illustrate the truth of these remarks, allow me 
to refer you for a moment to the history of the African 
slave trade. The whole slave coast, with a wide 
extent of interior, is fertile in all the productions of a 
tropical climate. Few portions of the earth would 
yield more abundantly, if submitted to the hand of 
industry, rendered skillful by education. And yet, 
what does that vast region export besides a few cargoes 
of gums and ivory, and some thousands of human 
bodies. It is almost a wilderness, and is becoming 
every year more desolate. What does it consume 
besides a few cargoes of trinkets and coarse cutlery, 
scarcely as much as one respectable manufacturing 
village would easily furnish. I ask you, now, what 
would have been the result, if, instead of murder and 
pillage, we had sent to them the Gospel of Jesus 
Christ, and the civilization which always follows in its 
train. Why, that whole region would have been now 
as thickly peopled as these United States. That coast 
would have been studded with cities, those rivers 
would have been lined with villages ; the whole terri- 



OF THE REDEEMER. 125 

tory, at tliis moment, blooming like the garden of 
Eden, would have been loaded with the abundance of 
harvest, and filled with the abodes of civilized man. 
There is not a workshop, in Europe or America, 
whose fabrics Africa would not have purchased, nor a 
man in Christendom who would not have been, at 
this very day, the happier for her productions. You 
see, then, from this individual case, how intimately 
connected is our interest with our duty. You see 
how our own happiness is interwoven with that of 
every brother of the family of man. You see that 
the best desires of the human heart must, in the end, 
lead us to choose for ourselves, and to offer to others, 
the moral laws of the New Testament ; for, in no 
other manner, can those desires be so fully gratified; 
Another illustration may be taken from a reference 
to the awful miseries which war hasj from the earliest 
ages, inflicted upon the human race. This calamity is, 
as you know, the immediate result of the gratification 
of human passion. It can never cease, until men are 
universally governed by moral principle. Estimate, 
if you can, the amount of national distress, which it 
has brought upon Europe for the last hundred 
years. And, here, you must remember that all 
the sums taken to support armies and navies, and 
all the property wasted, and all the interest upon the 
debt thus accumulated, is so much capital taken from 
the shop of the mechanic, or the warehouse of the 
merchant, or the granary of the husbandman ; capital 
which would otherwise have gone on increasing for- 
ever at the rate of compound interest. The wealth 
consumed in wars on the continent, for the last 



126 THE CERTAIN TRIUMPH 

hundred years, if it had been suffered thus to accu- 
mulate in peace, would have made every acre of 
Europe a garden, and every individual comparatively 
rich. And, had the principles of the Gospel univer- 
sally prevailed, it would have thus accumulated. 
Look at the lesson which Great Britain alone teaches. 
Every political change wrings from her starving popula- 
tion a universal groan of distress, at this moment almost 
intolerable. But, now, add together the principle and 
annual interest of her national debt, for both of them 
have been taken from the capital of the people, and 
compute what would be their amount at compound 
interest. All this has been spent in war and bloodshed. 
Had it been accumulated by the arts of peace, to the 
present moment, it would be sufficient to confer edu- 
cation, and refinement, and abundance, upon the 
poorest subject of the realm. 

Now all this, in the progress of society, will we believe 
become evident to every man. It will be universally and 
clearly seen, that men can neither attain the happiness 
of which the present state is susceptible, nor even 
escape the miseries which now press so heavily upon 
them, but by obeying the precepts of the Gospel of 
Jesus Christ. Hence we say that the elements of 
society are so combined as to tend to such a result as 
Revelation has predicted. 

Let us now recapitulate the argument which we 
have pursued. 

1. We have endeavored to show, that there is the 
same reason to believe that the Bible will be universally 
read, as there is to believe that any other book will be 
universally read, which elevates the conceptions and 



OF THE REDEEMER. Ig^ 

gratifies the taste. There is the same reason to believe 
that it will be obeyed, as there is to believe that any other 
precepts will be obeyed, that afford permanent relief 
to a universal and otherwise immitigable anguish. 

2. There is reason to believe, that the attributes 
of the Supreme Creator are responsible for its success. 
He has seen fit to connect, indissolubly, the proof of it 
with the principles on which all evidence of every sort 
rests. Either he is not the author of the ordinary 
events which take place around us, or he is also the 
author of the extraordinary events which were un- 
questionably connected with the promulgation of the 
Gospel. He is as much responsible, in the one 
case as in the other, for the belief which right reason 
teaches us. And if the Gospel be true, Jesus Christ 
must reign until he hath put all enemies under his feet. 

3. The desire for improvement in his condition, 
which animates every man, can be gratified only by 
obeying the social laws which the Creator has estab- 
lished. These laws are the precepts of the New 
Testament. As the progress of knowledge reveals, 
more and more clearly, the indissoluble connexion 
between the moral and the physical laws of nature, 
the very desire of happiness will teach men, as nations 
and individuals, the wisdom of taking, as the rules of 
their conduct, the precepts of the Saviour. Now, 
what men clearly perceive to be their interest, it is 
reasonable to suppose that they will do. 

Again. The connexion which this subject holds 
with the evidences of the truth of the Bible are various 
and important. Each of the topics which we have dis- 
cussed furnishes a separate and distinct medium of proof. 



128 THE CERTAIN TRIUMPH 

1. It is not beyond the power of human reason to 
affirm, in general, what the human mind can and what 
it cannot accomplish. There is no instance on record, 
that I remember, in w^iich any human being has been 
many centuries in advance of his age. On the con- 
trary, it has been evident that, by the general progress 
of society, the most remarkable discoveries must soon 
have been made by others, if they had not been made 
by the individuals whom they now distinguish. Nay, 
so remarkably is this the fact, that many of the most 
extraordinary discoveries have been made by several 
persons, in different countries, at the same time. But 
here is a case in which a few men, in general, illiterate, 
and by nothing else but moral character distinguished 
from the lower class of the nation, to which they be- 
longed, have promulgated a system of moral truth, not 
only in advance of their age, but the profoundest wis- 
dom of the present day cannot tell how much it is in 
advance of our own. The most accurate survey of 
human relations has not yet demonstrated the truth of 
a single moral law, which is not found within these 
pages. The infinitely diversified relations of society 
have not yet given rise to a single moral question, 
which is not there solved. Age after age attempts in 
vain to discover a radical cure for some form of social 
misery, and when the cure is at last discovered, it is 
found to be the very same as Jesus Christ and his apos- 
tles, nearly two thousand years ago, taught. Now I 
say, that there is nothing parallel to this in the w^hole 
history of the human mind. It as far transcends any 
thing that has been elsewhere seen, of the ordinary, or 
extraordinary exhibitions of intellectual power, as 



OF THE REDEEMER. 129 

carrying away the gates of Gaza, or overthrowing the 
pillars of a mighty temple, transcends the ordinary 
exhibitions of muscular strength. Thus, exclusively 
of all proof from miracles, I see not how the acknowl- 
edged facts can be accounted for, without the admission 
of divine interposition. And, if God have interposed 
at all in the case, the whole system is true. 

2. We are all aware that all our knowledge of 
external objects, as well as of past events, comes 
through the medium of evidence. By the evidence 
of my senses, I know that there is a tree before me. 
By the evidence of testimony, I know that Rome was 
built. Overturn the principles of evidence, and there 
is, at once, an end to all science and to all history. 
No man could know any thing farther than that he 
existed, and that he thought. Now, it has pleased 
God so to interweave the proof of his miraculous inter- 
position, in the promulgation of religion, with the very 
principles of evidence, that he who denies it must 
deny either the evidence of sense or that of testimony. 
Hence, his argument must undermine the whole fabric 
of our knowledge of the past and of the absent. And 
thus it is radically and unquestionably subversive of 
itself. It proceeds upon the supposition that the 
events tin question cannot be true, because they are 
contrary to the course of nature. But this very 
course of nature can be established only upon the 
principles of evidence which the objection has already 
denied, and hence the very fabric of the objection, 
by its own showing, crumbles into dust. Thus 
would infidelity, by an argument embosoming within 
itself its own manifest refutation, annihilate knowledge, 
12 



130 THE CERTAIN TRIUMPH 

dissipate science, and render it impossible, on the very 
principles of our nature, that either should ever have 
even the shadow of an existence. 

3. It can neither be denied that man is a material 
agent, and subject to the laws of matter, nor that the 
author of these laws is the Supreme Governor of the 
universe. It is equally undeniable, that man is a 
moral agent, subject also to moral fews, and that the 
author of these laws is the same supreme Divinity. If 
a moral law of this world be discovered, it is as certain 
that God ordained it, as that he ordained the laws of 
galvanism or of electricity. And, hence, the book 
which contains these laws is clearly God's word, and 
fully and universally binding upon the conscience. 
Now, that the New Testament does contain the 
moral laws which were ordained for this system, 
is already clearly demonstrable. For nothing is 
the progress of science more remarkable, than for 
the flood of light which it is pouring upon this subject. 
Every moral and every social experiment, that 
has ever been made, bears witness to the same 
truth. And, hence, from its very adaptation to the 
social nature of man, the New Testament is evidently 
the law of God, and obligatory upon the conscience. 
Here then, by another and distinct medium of proof, 
do we arrive at the conclusion that the Gospel of Jesus 
Christ is the sure word of prophecy. 

Christian brethren, you see how abundant is the 
evidence on which the word of our salvation rests. 
God has so interwoven it with the very principles of 
science, that all knowledge must be overthrown, ere 
the foundation of our hope can be undermined. Nay, 



OF THE REDEEMEK. 131 

he has so constructed the world, that every thing we 
see and every thing we read of, bear testimony to the 
truth of revelation. Let us, then, in all the confidence 
of men who know that they have not followed cun- 
ningly devised fables, urge upon our fellow-men the 
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord. 
Affectionately and zealously, yet meekly, let us instruct 
those that oppose themselves, that peradventure God 
may give them repentance to the acknowledging of 
the truth. And, above all, let us show, by lives of 
consistent piety, and charity, that the religion which 
we profess has its proper effect upon our own souls. 
This is an argument which moves the moral as well 
as intellectual nature of man, and it has thus far been 
always irresistible. 

Upon those who disbelieve the evidence of revelation^ 
we would urge a single consideration. Friends and 
fellow-citizens ; we have endeavored to set before you, 
in meekness, and with reason, some of the arguments 
which convince us, that our religion is from God, and 
that it will ultimately prevail. What we urge has cer* 
tainly the appearance of truth. It is most unreasonable 
for you to turn from it without examination. With 
the sincerest desires for your present and your future 
welfare, we respectfully request you patiently, candidly, 
and thoroughly, to examine the subject. Having dono 
this, we cease. The responsibility of your eternal 
destiny is in your own hands, and with devout prayers 
that God may lead you to a knowledge of himself, 
there do we leave it. Amen. "^ 

* Note E. 



ENCOURAGEMENTS 



TO 



RELIGIOUS EFFORT. 



MATTHEW VI. 10. 



THY KINGDOM C0 3IE. 



The cause of Sabbath Schools, my brethren, at 
the present day, and before such an audience as this, 
needs no advocate. If there be a God, a heaven, 
and a hell ; if man be immortal and capable of 
religion, and if his present existence be probationary; 
if he be a sinner, and if there be but one way of 
salvation ; and if youth be the season in which moral 
cultivation may be most successfully bestowed ; then, 
surely, the importance of inculcating upon the young 
the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, may be 
taken for granted. Supposing these truths to be 
admitted, we shall therefore proreed to another 
branch of the general subject, which this occasion 
suggests, and invite your attention to an illustration of 
some of the encouragements, which the present state 
of society offers, to an effort for the universal diffusion 
of Christianity, 



RELIGIOUS EFFORT. 133 

It is the general misfortune of man, to be wise a 
century too late. We look back with astonishment 
upon those means for guiding the destinies of our race, 
which preceding generations have enjoyed ; and we see 
how, in the possession of our present knowledge, we 
might then hav^e lived gloriously. We forget that no 
man lives to purpose, who does not live for posterity. 
Should I then be so happy as to direct your views 
only for a few years forward ; should the Spirit of all 
wisdom teach each one of us the responsibleness which 
rests upon the men of the passing generation ; we 
shall, through eternity, bless God, that He has per- 
mitted us to assemble at this time to deliberate upon 
the interests of the Redeemer's kingdom. 

It will be convenient to my purpose, to commence 
this discussion by a brief allusion to the nature of the 
Reformation by Luther. You have all been accus- 
tomed to consider this, as by far the most interesting 
portion of the history of man, since the time of the 
Apostles. In many respects it is so. Its results, 
although daily muhiplying, are already incalculable. 
The fabric of ancient society began then to crumble, 
and a more beauteous edifice to arise frorn amid its 
ruins. Beside this, there is much of the moral 
picturesque with which every prospect is crowded. 
An imaginative man kindles into enthusiasm at the 
recital of every transaction. The leaders, on both 
sides, were men of consummate ability, and of revo- 
lutioDary energy. The fiercest passions of the human 
heart, in an age almost ignorant of law, stimulated 
them to contention unto death. Hence the whole 
period presents an almost unbroken succession of 
12^ 



134 ENCOURAGEMENTS TO 

battles and sieges ; of foreign war and intestine com- 
motion ; of brutal persecution, and of dignified en- 
durance ; and all this is rendered yet more impressive 
by the frequent vision of racks, and dungeons, of 
torture, and exile ; of the assassin's dagger, and the 
martyr's stake. It need not then seem surprising, if 
this strong appeal to the imagination somewhat bewil- 
der the reason, and if the impressive circumstances 
attendant upon the change, too much divert our 
attention from the nature of the change itself. These 
violent commotions, like friction in machinery, rather 
disclose the nature of the materials and the amount of 
the resistance, than either the direction of the force, 
or the celerity of the movement. 

But let us now, for a moment, draw aside these 
attendant circumstances, and in what light does the 
Reformation present hself to our view ? Simply as an 
epoch in which the creation of new forces changed 
the relations which had previously existed between the 
elements of society. A new and most powerful order 
of men arose suddenly into being, and institutions, 
cemented by the lapse of ages, required no inconsid- 
erable modification to meet the unexpected exigency. 
In the midst of all this, a new moral impulse was 
communicated to society, which rendered these 
changes beneficial to man, and perpetuated the 
blessings which they conferred to the present gen- 
eration. 

To illustrate this very briefly — You may be aware 
that at about the period of the Reformation, great 
changes were WTOught in the physical condition of 
man. The discovery of America, and of a passage 



RELIGIOUS EFFORT. 135 

to India by the Cape of Good Hope, and also of 
the manner's compass, opened exhaustless fountains 
of weahh to commerce and manufactures. Labor 
became, of course, vastly more valuable, and artisans 
became possessed of the means of independence. 
Hence a new order of men, a middling class, was 
created. Power, and wealth, and education, were 
placed within the reach of a vastly greater number. 
The moral centre of gravity settled towards the base 
of the social cone. The rod of feudal vassalage was 
broken, and men were first acknowledged to possess 
rights, which they did not derive from hereditary 
succession. 

Beside this, the invention of the printing press 
furnished, at the same time, new means for intellectual 
culture. This astonishing instrument multiplies in- 
definitely the power of thought. It transfers the 
sceptre of empire from matter to mind. It enables 
genius to multiply, to any extent, the copies of its 
own conceptions. Hence the facilities for intellectual 
cultivation were abundantly bestowed upon this new 
order of men, to which commerce and manufactures 
had given birth. 

But above all, it pleased God to raise up, in the 
persons of the reformers, men of a character equal to 
the crisis. They were men who counted not their 
lives dear unto them, when a moral change was to be 
effected. In despite of every thing appalling in the 
form of opposhion, they studied, they argued, they 
preached, they wrote, they translated, they printed, 
they employed for the promotion of true religion, all 
those means which the progress of society had placed 



136 ENCOURAGEMENTS TO 

within their power. They thus gave the impression 
of Christianity to the changes which were going 
forward ; and that their labors formed by far the most 
important link in the chain of events which is denom- 
inated the Reformation, may be evident from the fact, 
that no where, but in Protestant countries, have the 
blessings, resulting from the social changes to which 
we have alluded, been fully realized. Catholic coun- 
tries have been comparatively unimproved, except 
where their condition has been changed by the influ- 
ence of Protestantism in their vicinity. 

These few remarks are, we presume, sufficient to 
show you tlie importance of moral effort at the crisis 
of a social revolution. But, if we mistake not, 
physical and intellectual changes, very similar to those 
which characterized the Reformation, are, at this 
moment, going forward in the midst of us. It re- 
mains for the men of the present generation to say 
whether these changes shall receive a corresponding 
moral impression. 

I. Important changes have of late taken place in 
the physical condition of man. 

The natural wealth of every man, consists in his 
power to labor. This, every man in a greater or less 
degree, possesses. The less numerous class, in addi- 
tion to the power to labor, possesses, also, a portion 
of capital. Hence, as labor becomes more valuable, 
every laboring man becomes richer ; that is, he is 
able to command a larger amount of objects, which 
may gratify his desires. But this change is principally 
in favor of the more numerous classes. Capital, the 
wealth of the rich man, remains comparatively station- 



RELIGIOUS EFFORT. 137 

ary; whilst labor^ the wealth of the poor man, rises in 
value. Thus the natural tendency of the progress of 
society is, to abolish poverty from the earth. 

That labor is, in fact, becoming more valuable ; 
that is, that it is better paid, is evident from a com- 
parison of the condition of the laboring classes now, 
with their condition a few years since. Almost every 
man among us may, if he will, command the means 
of a very comfortable livelihood. An industrious and 
virtuous artisan may provide for his family, advantages, 
which a few years since were considered attainable 
only by those above the level of mediocrity. The 
cause of this change may be easily stated. Labor is 
valuable to the employer in proportion to the amount 
of results that it will accomplish. Now it is well 
known, that, within the last fifty years, increased skill 
has rendered human labor vastly more productive 
than it ever was before. A greater amount of the 
product of his labor may, therefore, be reserved to 
the operative, whilst the capitalist receives at the same 
time a larger interest upon his investment. 

It is interesting, also, to observe the manner in 
which this increased value has been given to human 
labor. In some cases, division of labor has enabled 
one man to do as much as could otherwise be done 
by two hundred. In other, and more numerous 
cases, a still more gratifying result has been produced, 
by the increased skill with which science has taught 
us to employ those qualities and relations with which 
the all-merciful God has seen fit to endow the universe 
around us. The most important of these are, the 
gravitating power of water, and the expansive force of 



138 ENCOURAGEMENTS TO 

Steam. It is by a most beautiful adaptation of the 
former, that you, in this city,* employ a little waterfall, 
without cessation, and almost without cost, to carry 
the means of cleanliness and health to every family 
within your borders. In various other parts of our 
country, you may behold a single individual, by means 
of machinery connected with a similar waterfall, 
executing, with the utmost perfection, what could not 
otherwise, in the same time, be performed by many 
hundreds. 

But specially am I astonished at contemplating the 
results of steam, that new power which the last half 
century has placed within the control of man. 
Whether we consider the massiveness of its strength, 
or the facility of its adaptation, we are equally over- 
whelmed at the results which it promises to accomplish 
for society. Probably half a million of men could 
not propel a boat two hundred miles, with the speed 
given to it by a dozen workmen with a powerful 
engine. On the Liverpool and Manchester rail road, 
two men, with a locomotive engine, could easily do 
the work of a thousand, with a speed five or six times 
as great as human strength could, at its greatest effort, 
perform. Beside this, there can be but very little 
doubt, that steam will, at least in Great Britain, super- 
sede the employment of brutes for draft labor, and 
thus enable the same extent of land to sustain more 
than double its present number of human beings. 
The same kind of result is in all cases produced, 
either by the introduction of valuable machinery, or 
by improvement in the means of internal or external 

* Philadelphia. 



RELIGIOUS EI'FORl'. 139 

communication. The instances which I have selected 
are intended merely as specimens of a class of agents 
which Providence has within a few years taught us to 
employ, for the improvement of our condition. It 
ought also to be distinctly borne in mind, that probably 
only a very small number of the most important of 
these has yet been discovered; and that, of those 
which have been discovered, the application is yet but 
in its infancy. — Sufficient, I trust, has been said to 
illustrate the obvious tendency of improvements in the 
arts, and to show how utterly incalculable are the 
benefits which they have evidently in reserve for us. 
The manner in which all these changes affect the 
laboring classes, may be thus briefly stated. The 
comforts of life are procurable only by human labor. 
If then, by means of improvement in the arts, the 
labor of the human race is able to produce this year, 
twice as large an amount of the comforts of life, as 
was produced last year, then every man will have 
twice as much to enjoy. He will, therefore, be this 
year in circumstances as comfortable as those of a 
man of twice his wealth the year before. With the 
labor of last year he may earn twice the amount of 
comfort, or he may possess the former amount of 
comfort with half the amount of labor. A little re- 
flection will, I think, teach any one, that these are 
precisely the results to which the movements of society 
are tending. It will, I think, also be evident, that 
the forces are similar to those exerted upon the con* 
dition of man, at the time of the Reformation, except 
that they affect more permanently, and to a greater 
degree, a much larger portion of the community. 



140 ENCOURAGEMENTS TO 

The immediate effect of these changes upon the 
condition of the more numerous classes of society- 
must be evident. They place within the power of 
every man a larger share of enjoyment, and a greater 
portion of leisure. They thus give to every man, not 
only more time for intellectual cultivation, but, also, 
the means for improving that time with increased 
advantage. And, if they do not render a man better 
educated himself, they render him sensible of his own 
deficiency, and awaken in him the desire, and furnish 
the means of gratifying it, of bestowing education upon 
his children. And hence, although the modes of 
education should undergo no. improvement, there must 
result a more widely extended demand for mental 
improvement, and a more perfect and more powerful 
intellectual development. 

But secondly ; the means for cultivating the human 
mind are in a course of rapid improvement. Time 
will allow me only to allude to a very few considera- 
tions connected with this branch of the subject. 

The object of education is becoming better under- 
stood. It has, in many places, ceased to be consid- 
ered enough to infuse into the pupil certain sentences, 
or even certain ideas, which sometime before had 
been infused into the instructer. It begins to be 
admitted, that education consists in so cuhivating the 
mind, as to render it a more powerful, and more exact 
instrument for the acquisition, the propagation, and 
the discovery of truth, and a more certain guide for 
the regulation of conduct. Hence, it is now frequently 
conceded that education may be a science by itself, 
regulated by laws which require special study, and in 



RELIGIOUS EFFOR'^T. 141 

tfie practical application of which, something more 
than the lowest degree of intelligence, may be at least 
convenient. A higher degree of talent will thus be 
called to this profession, in every one of its branches. 
Division of labor will produce the same beneficial 
results as in every other department of industry. And 
hence, as the object becomes better understood, as high- 
er talent is engaged to promote it, and as that talent is 
employed under greater advantages, we may expect, 
in the rising and the succeeding generations, a more 
perfect mental development than the world has yet any 
where seen. 

Again ; it has, within a few years, been discovered 
that education may be commenced much earlier in 
the life of a human being than was before considered 
practicable. Who would have supposed, unless he 
had seen it, that any thing valuable could have been 
communicated to an infant of only two or three years 
old ? Specially, who would have supposed that the 
memory, the judgment, the understanding, and the 
conscience of so young a child were already so per- 
fectly formed and so susceptible of improvement ? It 
has thus been demonstrated, that a very valuable 
education, an education which shall comprise instruc- 
tion in the elements of many of the most important 
sciences, may be acquired, before a child is old 
enough to be profitably employed in rnusular labor, 
and even while the care of it would be expensive to 
the parent. It has thus been made the interest of 
every one in the neighborhood of an Infant School, to 
give his children at least so much education as may 
be communicated there. And if I do not much rnis- 
13 



142 ENCOURAGEMENTS TO 

take, the instruction now given to infants, in these 
invaluable nurseries, is more philosophical, and does 
more towards establishing correct intellectual and 
moral habits, than was attainable, when I was a boy, 
by children of twelve or fourteen years of age, in 
grammar schools of no contemptible estimation. 

Allow me also to suggest an improvement which, 
though not yet in practice, must soon follow in the 
train of the others of which I have spoken. I allude 
to the application of the science of education to the 
teaching of the mechanic arts. At present, a boy ' 
spends frequently seven years in acquiring a trade. 
His instructer, though a good practical artist, is wholly 
unacquainted with the business of teaching. Few 
persons can doubt that a man, who, with a competent 
knowledge of the art, should devote himself exclusively 
to teaching it, might, in a few months, communicate 
as much skill as is now communicated in as many 
years. The result would be, in the end, far greater 
excellency of workmanship ; and, what is still better, 
much more time for obtaining an education might be 
allowed to young men before they devoted themselves 
to the employments of life. 

From these facts, the tendency of the present 
movements of society is obvious. It is, to furnish 
more leisure than formerly to the operative classes of 
society, to furnish them more extensively with the 
means of education, and to render that education 
better. They must, from the very nature of things, 
become both positively and relatively far richer, and 
much better informed, than they have ever been 
before. Now, as social power is in the ratio of intel- 



RELIGIOUS EFFORT. 143 

ligence and wealth ; the astonishing progress of the 
more numerous classes, in both these respects, must 
be at present producing more radical changes in the 
fabric of society than were witnessed even at the period 
of the Protestant Reformation. 

But these changes are going forward with accelerated 
rapidity in our own country. With profuse liberality, 
a bountiful Providence has scattered over our territory 
all the means for the rapid accumulation of wealth. 
Land, rich and unexhausted, adapted to the production 
of every article of convenience and luxury, stretches 
through every variety of climate. To peculiar natural 
advantages of internal communication, we add still 
greater capabilities of artificial improvement. The 
amount of our unappropriated water-power is incalcu- 
lable ; and in regions where this is less abundant, 
inexhaustible beds of fuel offer every facility for the 
employment of that incomparable laborer, steam. 

This country, also, presents peculiar facilities for 
intellectual development. The political institutions 
of other countries rather retard than accelerate the 
progress of mental cultivation. With us, the absence 
of all legalized hereditary barriers between the differ- 
ent classes of society, presents to every man a powerful 
inducement to improve himself, and especially his 
children, to the utmost. In other countries, the forms 
of government being unyielding, they do not readily 
accommodate themselves to a change in the relations 
of society. Ours are constructed with the express 
design of being modified, whenever a change in the 
relations of the social elements shall require it. The 
history of our country since the adoption of the federal 



144 ENCOURAGEMENTS TO 

constitution, has furnished abundant proof of the truth 
of these remarks. Every change in the form of the 
State governments has been from a less to a more 
popular form. This at least shows, first ^ that the 
power is passing from the hands of the less numerous, 
to those of the more numerous classes of society ; 
and, secondly^ that there is nothing in the nature of 
our institutions to prevent its thus passing. It is our 
duty to provide that it be wielded by intelligence and 
virtue. 

I hope that sufficient has been said, to show that 
the period is rapidly advancing, when all, but espe- 
cially the more numerous classes of society, will enjoy 
much more leisure for reflection, will be furnished 
with a vastly greater amount of knowledge, both of 
facts and of principles, and will be educated to use 
those facts and principles with far greater accuracy, 
and with far better success. 

II. Let us proceed briefly to consider the encour- 
agements which these facts present, to an effort for 
the universal diffusion of Christianity. 

1. The increase of wealth, and especially the 
consequent increase of leisure, among the more 
numerous classes, is in many respects greatly favorable 
to the progress of religion. Moderate labor invigo- 
rates, excessive labor enfeebles, the intellectual 
faculties. He, whose existence is measured by 
unbroken periods of either slavish toil, or profound 
sleep, soon sinks down in passive subjection to the 
laws of his animal nature. Lighten his load, and 
his intellect regains its elasticity ; he rises to the region 
of thought, breathes the atmosphere of reason, rejoices 



RELIGIOUS EFFORT. 14S 

in the discovery of truth, and feels himself a denizen 
of the universe of mind. 

Again. The progress of education is rendering the 
human understanding a more successful instrument 
for the investigation of the laws of nature, both in 
matter and in mind. Hence has the progress of 
discovery been so rapid during the last half century; 
and we believe that the work has but barely com- 
menced. We apprehend that the boldest imagination 
has never yet conceived of the exactitude and the 
extent of that knowledge which we shall acquire, both 
of the qualities and the relations of the universe around 
us ; and of the skill to which we shall yet attain, in 
subjecting them all to the gratification of human want^ 
and the alleviation of human wo. Now, we beheve 
that God made this universe ; that he created every 
particle of matter, and impressed upon it its various 
qualities. We believe that this same Being, also, 
created mind, and inspired it with its moral and intel-- 
lectual capacities ; and we believe that the attributes 
of matter and the capacities of mind are all formed to 
harmonize with the moral laws contained in his holy 
oracles ; so that in the end there shall not be found, 
throughout this wide universe, a straggling atom which 
does not yield up its illustration to the truth of revela-. 
tion. Thus, to use the words of Foster, " Religion, 
standing up in grand parallel with an infinite variety 
of things, receives from all their testimony and homage> 
and speaks a voice which is echoed by creation^'* 

Thus far, every discovery of science and every 
invention in the arts have uttered their voice in favor 
of the Bible. Who can contemplate the relation of 
13* 



146 ENCOURAGEMENTS TO 

the various forces which move a steam engine, and 
the laws by which they operate, without seeing that 
all was devised, by Infinite w^isdom, for just such a 
being, physical and intellectual, as man, to accomplish 
just such purposes as Infinite goodness had intended ? 
Who can contemplate the social circumstances under 
which man enjoys the greatest amount of happiness, 
without being convinced that the very constitution of 
man requires obedience to precisely such precepts as 
are contained in the Bible ; that man is rewarded 
and punished on the principles which are there incul- 
cated ; in other words, that the moral system of the 
Bible is the moral system of the universe, A striking 
illustration of the truth of the general principle to 
which I refer, may be found in the history of political 
economy. This science has been, to say the least, 
most successfully cultivated by men who had no 
belief in the Christian religion. And'yet, reasoning 
from unquestionable facts in the history of man, they 
have incontrovertibly proved that the precepts of Jesus 
Christ, in all their simplicity, point out the only rules 
of conduct, in obedience to which, either nations or 
individuals can become either rich or happy. So far 
as science has gone, then, every new truth in physics 
or in morals has furnished a new argument for the 
authenticity of revelation. Thus will it be to the end. 
Philosophy herself will at last show the principles of 
the religion of Jesus Christ so legibly written on every 
thing else which the Creator's hand has formed, that 
it w^ll be as impossible to deny the truth of the 
Scriptures as the law of gravitation. 

Besides, not only does the present state of society 



RELIGIOUS EFFORT. 147 

promise that vastly more of these laws will be known, 
and their moral connexions traced ; it is also rendered 
evident that the knowledge of them will be more 
widely disseminated. Improvement in wealth, and in 
the science of education, will render what is now 
considered erudition, common to the humblest member 
of the community. Thus the facts, on which may be 
constructed the most incontestable arguments in favor 
of religion, will be found in abundance in the mind of 
every man. Thus the media of proof are multiplied 
without number. Though ignorance be the mother 
of superstition, knowledge is the parent of devotion. 
Take any man whose soul has not been brutalized by 
animal indulgence, nor his judgment radically distorted 
by incurable prejudice ; open his eyes upon the 
universe as it actually is, with all its at present undis- 
covered variety of incomparable contrivances, and tell 
me, could he ever afterwards be made an atheist ? Or 
let him remark, through the history of ages, the conse- 
quences resulting to individuals and nations, from 
different courses of moral conduct, and could he ever 
afterwards be persuaded that the Deity neither had 
made nor would enforce the distinction between 
virtue and vice ? Or, let him ask himself upon 
what principle, more than any other, it is neces- 
sary to act, if he would secure to himself any 
valuable result for the life that now is, and he 
will come to the conclusion, that in the things of 
this world, as well as of the other, success can 
only be expected from the exercise of faith. Nor 
is this all. A well regulated mind not only knows 
that it is so, but it is at every moment reminded of it. 



148 ENCOURAGEMENTS TO 

Every thing speaks to such a man of God, and God 
speaks to huii in every thing. 

Nor is this all. Not only does the improved 
development of the human faculties furnish new 
proofs of the truth of revelation ; it also renders the 
mind more susceptible of their influence. It is the 
business of education to deliver us from the tyranny 
of prejudice and passion, and subject us to the gov- 
ernment of reason. Mind thus becomes a more 
delicate, a more powerful, and a more certain instru- 
ment. It yields to nothing but evidence ; but before 
evidence, it bows down in reverential homage. Thus, 
effect upon mind may perhaps at last be calculated 
with almost scientific precision. Now it is to this 
very training of the intellectual faculties that the 
progress of improvement in education promises to 
conduct mankind ; so much more favorable is the 
mind of the hearer becoming, to the production of 
moral effect. 

But we hope that this system of changes is not to 
be limited even here. We believe that improvement 
in intellectual science, but above all, more elevated 
piety, and more ardent devotion, will yet confer some 
new powers of suasion on the Christian teacher. 
Every one must be sensible, that the Gospel is an instru- 
ment which has never been wielded w^iih its legitimate 
effect, since the time of the Apostles. May we not hope 
that there are forms of illustration at present untried, 
that there are modes of appeal as yet unattempted, 
which, with an efficacy more certain than we anywhere 
now witness, will arouse the slumbering conscience, 
and lead the awakened sinner to the cross of Christ* 



RELIGIOUS EFFORT. 149 

Christian Brethren, estimate, if you can, the 
importance of these facts. Consider that every law 
of matter, or of mind, presents a separate argument in 
favor of religion ; that the providence of God is 
multiplying, v^ith a rapidity beyond precedent, both 
the number and the power of such arguments ; that 
all classes of men are becoming more deeply imbued 
with a knowledge of them ; and that this knowledge, 
from the improved discipline of the faculties, must 
produce a more certain, and more salutary effect; 
and then consider how the press is enabling every 
man to exert his whole moral and intellectual power 
upon the thoughts and opinions of mankind, and you 
will surely say, that never have there been presented 
so many nor so great encouragements for a universal 
effort to bring the whole of Christendom under sub- 
jection to Jesus Christ. The prediction seems already 
fulfilled, '' the sons of strangers shall come bending 
unto thee." Following in the train of every art, and 
every science, infidel philosophy herself is beheld 
presenting her offering at the feet of the Redeemer. 
Every thing waits for us to move forward and take 
possession of the inheritance, which Messiah has 
purchased with his own most precious blood. 

There are, however, a few circumstances of en- 
couragement peculiar to the condition of this country, 
to which I may be permitted for a moment to advert. 

1. The proportion of truly religious persons is 
greater in this than in any country in Christendom. 
Perhaps it would not be too much to assert, that both 
their intelligence and their opportunity for leisure are 
comparatively greater than fall to the lot of Christians 



150 ENCOURAGEMENTS TO 

in any other nation. I hope that it may, also, with 
truth be added, that notwithstanding the multiplicity 
of our sects, a greater degree of good fellowship, in 
promoting the eternal welfare of men, is discoverable 
here, than has been commonly witnessed, at least in 
the latter ages of the Christian church. 

2. We enjoy perfect civil and religious freedom. 
Every man may originate as powerful trains of thought 
as he is able, may give ihem as wide a circulation as 
he chooses, and may use all other suitable means for 
giving them influence over the minds of others. 

3. Public opinion is, as yet, more than usually 
friendly to religion. This land was first peopled by 
men who came here that they might enjoy " freedom 
to worship God ;" and thus they proved themselves 
worthy of being the Fathers of an Empire. Our 
institutions, at their very commencement, received the 
impression of Christianity. The name, and the 
example, of the Puritans, are yet held in hallowed 
recollection. We are enjoying at this moment, the 
rich blessings purchased by their labors and their 
prayers. Our nation, wicked though it be, is not yet 
cursed with the sin of having deliberately rejected the 
offer of the Gospel. Our soil is unstained with the 
blood of the saints. We may hope, then, that our 
eyes have not yet been smitten with avenging blindness. 
In carrying forward her conquests, we may then hope, 
that the church of God has less opposition to encounter 
here, than she has met with elsewhere. 

4. But it deserves specially to be remarked, that 
God has, in a peculiar manner, blessed the efforts 
which have been made in this country to check the 



RELIGIOUS EFFORT. 151 

increase of vice, and promote the diffusion of piety. 
In illustration of this remark, I will not at present refer 
to the astonishing success which has attended the 
labors of the Bible, the Sabbath School, and the Tract 
Societies. 1 will only mention two facts, which, 
though not more important than those which I omit, 
allow of being presented with greater brevity. The 
first, is the effect which has been produced by the 
union of good men, for the promotion of temperance. 
I believe that but four years have elapsed since this 
benevolent effort commenced. Already has it saved 
from worse than mere destruction several millions of 
the national capital ; it has reclaimed thousands of 
families, from what otherwise must have been inevita- 
ble ruin; it has taught hundreds of thousands successful 
resistance to perilous temptation ; it is purifying the 
atmosphere, which so soon must have poisoned the 
rising generation, and its wide-spreading influence 
begins to be felt in every State and County, nay, I 
would hope, in every Town throughout the Union. 
Travellers from the east, and from the west, from the 
north, and from the south, tell us that an amendment 
is universally perceptible. The records of various 
religious denominations bear testimony to the same 
encouraging fact. We ourselves have witnessed that 
in stage coaches, and in steam boats, in public houses, 
and in private parlors, temperance is becoming more 
and more the habit of the people. The very traffic in 
ardent spirits is far from being entirely reputable; 
and there is reason to hope, that in a very few 
years more, this detestable leprosy may be banished 
from the land. 



152 ENCOURAGEMENTS TO 

More especially, however, would I refer to the fact, 
that those seasons of special attention to the salvation 
of the soulj commonly denominated revivals of religion, 
and produced, as we believ^e, by the special influences 
of the Holy Spirit, have been multiplied among us, to 
a far 2;reater deirree than has ever before been known 
in any age or country. Almost every denomination, 
professing to be Christian, has, of late years, been 
greatly augmented m numbers, and strongly excited 
to religious efibrt, in consequence of such seasons. 
Specially have these effects been visible among the 
young. Sabbath Schools, and Bible Classes, have, 
in a peculiar manner, been filled with that solemnity, 
which, turning the soul from the hot pursuit of pleas- 
ure and of sin, leads it to serious reflection, to un- 
feigned repentance, to faith in Jesus Christ, and to 
permanent and universal reformation. Now it matters 
not what theory we adopt in respect to this subject. 
We are all willing to be influenced by facts. The fact, 
then, w^e think, cannot be questioned, that events 
called revivals of religion are becoming very common 
among us, and that where they occur most frequently, 
a larger portion of the people become active and 
zealous religionists ; and if this be granted, it is 
sufficient for our argument. 

Behold then, Christian Brethren, the encouragement 
before us. We are citizens of a country whose un- 
trodden soil was moistened by the tears, and conse- 
crated by the prayers, of persecuted saints ; whose 
earliest institutions were formed under the auspices of 
the Bible, where every man may pray as much, and 
live as holily, as he will ; where every man may 



RELIGIOUS EFFORT. 153 

circulate, as widely as he pleases, the Gospel of Jesus 
Christ, and as eloquently as he is able, urge his fellow 
citizens to obey it ; and where God has been pleased 
to honor with his special benediction, ev^ery effort 
which has been made to arrest the progress of vice, 
and to increase the influence of religion. What can 
w^e ask for more ? Why stand we here all the day 
idle ? We see how glorious a success has attended 
our present feeble and imperfect efforts. They have 
as yet been almost nothing in comparison with the 
ability of the Christian church in this country. How 
few of us have even approached the point of self- 
denial in effort, and surely it is only at this point that 
real benevolence begins. Let us estimate what is 
our solemn and unquestionable duty. Let us look at 
the wonderful success with which God has crowned 
our exertions, and I think we shall arrive at the conclu- 
sion, that with a corresponding degree of success upon 
no greater efforts, for the promotion of religion, than are 
palpably within our power, a revival of piety may be 
witnessed in every neighborhood throughout the land; 
the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ may be 
made to regulate the detail of individual and national 
intercourse ; the high praises of God may be heard 
from every habitation ; and perhaps, before even the 
youth of the rising generation be gathered to their 
fathers, there may burst forth upon these highly favored 
States, the light of the Millennial Glory. What is to 
prevent it ? Let any man reflect upon the subject, 
' and then answer. ]\Iy brethren, I speak deliberately. 
I do believe that the option, under God, is put into 
14 



154 ENCOURAGEMENTS TO 

our hands.* It is for us to say whether the present 
reh'gious movement shall be onward, until it terminate 
in the universal triumph of Messiah, or whether all 
shall go back again, and the generations to come after 
us shall suffer for ages the divine indignation, for our 
neglect of the Gospel of the grace of God. The 
church has for two thousand years been praying, 
'* Thy kingdom come." Jesus Christ is saying unto 
us, '' It shall come, if you desire it." 

Such, then, are some of the encouragements which 
the providence of God presents for attempting the 
universal promulgation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 
Motives equally strong may also be drawn from tlie 
results, which must of necessity ensue, if we prove 
unworthy of the high destiny which is now set before 
us. To these, however, time will allow me only xevj 
briefly to allude. 

In no case does God array himself in more avenging 
majesty, than when he resents the misimprovement 
of unusual blessings, or the neglect of signal opportu- 
nities for usefulness. " Curse ye Meroz," saith the 
angel of the Lord, '' curse ye bitterly, the inhabitants 
thereof, — because they came not to the help of the 
Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty." 
'' And when Jesus w^as come near, he beheld the city 
[Jerusalem] and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst 
known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things 
which belong to thy peace, — hut now they are hidden 
from thine eyes; for the days come in which thine 
enemies shall lay thee even with the ground, and 
thy children within thee, and shall not leave thee 
* Note F. 



RELIGIOUS EFFORT. 155 

one stone upon another, because thou knewest not 
the time of thy visitation^ 

The spirit of these warnings applies with emphatic 
force to the church at the present day. With regard 
to society at large, it is evident that the changes which 
have commenced, must either result in the universal 
diffusion of the principles of religious knowledge and 
civil liberty, or in the establishment of a more firmly 
rivetted system of slavery, than the world hath yet 
beheld. The philosophy of Christianity is now gen- 
erally well understood, tier points of contact with 
the human heart are discovered. So far as human 
sagacity can discover it, the secret of her great 
strength is revealed. Her enemies are rallying, and 
mean to regain the ground, which they lost at the 
Reformation. Their resources are immense, and 
their wisdom has been gained in that best of all 
schools, the school of reverses. Combining all their 
forces, and, with skill worthy of a better cause, 
adapting their weapons to the present state of society, 
they are preparing for one mighty, one universal onset. 
Christianity cannot long maintain her present position. 
Delay will be defeat. She must instantly seize the 
vantage ground, and march onward, universally 
triumphant, or be driven again for ages to the dens 
and caves of the earth. Which shall she do ? This 
question, it remains for the men of the present gener- 
ation to answer. 

The period within which this question must be 
decided may, in other countries, be prolonged ; not 
so, however, in this country. Other governments 
may be kept stable amid political commotionj by 



156 ENCOURAGEMENTS TO 

balancing the interests and passions of one class of 
the community against those of another. With us, 
there is but one class, the people. Hence, our 
institutions can only be supported while the people 
are restrained by moral principle. We have provided 
no checks to the turbulence of passion : we have 
raised no barriers against the encroachments of a 
tyrannical majority. Hence, the very forms which 
we so much admire, are at any moment liable to 
become an intolerable nuisance, the instruments of 
ultimate and remediless oppression. Now, I do not 
know that history furnishes us with reason to believe 
that man can be brought under subjection to moral 
government, in any other way than by the inculcation 
of principles, such as are delivered in the New 
Testament. You see then, that the church of Christ 
is the only hope of our country. 

I will not here ask, whether any thing has ever 
transpired within your recollection, in the history of 
our republic, at which a thoughtful man may tremble. 
I will not ask, whether, w4ien the most momentous 
questions are at stake, it be customary to address the 
passions, or the reason and conscience of our fellow 
citizens. I wall neither ask, whether he would not be 
considered a novice, who was credulous enough to 
believe a politician honest, nor whether an utter disre- 
gard to truth be not avowed without a blush, as the 
principle on which are conducted many of the presses, 
which politicians support. I will not ask, whether 
the most infamous want of principle, hath always 
obstructed the advancement of him, who hath made 
bis yell heard in the deafening clamor of electioneering 



RELIGIOUS EFFORT. 157 

Strife. Nor will I ask, whether there be not men 
deeply learned in the history of human affairs, who, 
overlooking the moral power that resides in the religion 
of Jesus Christ, have not already doubted whether 
such institutions as ours can long be perpetuated. I 
refer to these things. Christian brethren, to remind 
you how inevitable is the result, if it be not arrested 
by the redeeming influences of Christianity. It is 
time you were aware of the fact, that even now, 
not a moment is to be lost. When the statesman 
trembles for the republic, then it is time for the 
Christian to act. 

You see, then, that unless prevented by the diffusion 
of religious principle, the wreck of our civil liberties 
is inevitable. But in the present state of society, civil 
and religious liberty must perish together. Then 
must ensue ages of darkness, more appalling than 
aught which this world, in the gloomiest periods of 
her history, hath yet witnessed. What form of misery 
will brood over this now happy land, 1 pretend not 
to foresee. I cannot tell, whether these solemn 
temples will become the resort of muttering monks, or 
of infidel bacchanalians. I know not, whether our 
children will worship a relic, and pray to a saint, — ^or 
deny the existence of God, and proclaim that death 
is an eternal sleep. I should rather fear, that neither 
of these woes would fill up the measure of our cup of 
trembling ; but that some strange ministration of wrath 
more terrific than eye hath seen, or ear heard, 
or the heart of man conceived, was yet treasured 
' up among the hidden things of the Almighty, to be 
t exhausted in vengeance upon the iniquities of a 
14^ 



158 ENCOURAGEMENTS TO 

people, who so signally knew not the day of their 
merciful visitation. 

Fathers and Brethren ! you behold the result to 
which we have been led. It is for us to decide whether 
the moral light, which has just begun to dawn, shall 
ascend to meridian glory ; or whether for ages it shall 
be extinguished in darkness. It is for us to say, 
whether this nation shall first welcome the coming 
of Messiah, and rejoice in the earliest subjection to 
his reign ; or bear for ages the awful weight of divine 
indignation, for having, under such aggravated cir- 
cumstances, rejected the offered mercy of God's well 
beloved Son. 

Men, Brethren, and Fathers, what shall we do? 
Shall the kingdom of Christ come, or shall it not come ? 

But before you answer this question, it is proper 
that I inform you what the answer involves. 

The kingdom of Christ will not come, unless an 
effort be made on the part of the church, more intense 
and more universal, than any which later ages have 
seen. Little doth it become me to speak in the 
language of a reformer. Yet you will, I trust, pardon 
me, if I, with difSdence, suggest some changes, which 
must take place ere we can be prepared for the crisis 
before us. 

In general, then, I would remark, that the providence 
of God calls loudly upon religious men, to be more 
deeply and thoroughly religious. 

Too commonly now, the character of religionist is 
merged in the character of statesman, or lawyer, or 
physician, or merchant, or tradesman, or even of man 
or woman of fashion. I blush while I speak of it, but 



RELIGIOUS EFFORT. 15,9 

it is true J this age beholds fashionable disciples of a 
crucified Jesus. All this must, we think, be altered. 
If religion be any thing, it is every thing. If the 
Bible be not a fable, it is meet that every other 
distinction of a Christian be merged in that of relig- 
ionist. Our private history, the arrangements of our 
business, the discipline of our families, our intercourse 
with society, must show that we do really care very 
little about every thing else, if we can only promote 
the growth of vital piety in our own souls, and in the 
souls of those around us. 

But to be somewhat more particular. New efforts 
are required of ministers of the Gospel. The times 
seem to demand that our lives be much more laborious 
than formerly. We must labor more abundantly in 
preparation for the pulpit; we must preach more in 
season, and out of season ; we must visit our people 
more frequently, and more religiously ; we must 
exhort more fervently ; and thus make our moral 
influence more universally and more deeply felt upon 
all classes, but specially upon the young. If it be 
said, that clergymen are, generally, as laborious as 
their health will admit, we may grant it ; but still, we 
would ask, might they not frequently obtain better 
health? Every one of us, surely, might understand 
and obey the laws of his animal economy. If we 
would do this, we should less frequently complain 
of ill health. Besides, who of us, with the firmest 
health, has ever accomplished half the labor of Baxter, 
or Payson, and they were invalids through life ? 

It will be necessary that our efforts be more syste- 
matic. We act so much at random, that the labors 



160 ENCOURAGEMENTS TO 

of one day interfere with those of another, and thus 
much invaluable time is lost. Who that has had the 
least experience in the ministry, does not see to how 
much belter purpose he would have lived, had he 
resolutely set about doing one thing at a time, and 
doing that thing thoroughly. Should every one of us 
survey the field which God has placed before him, 
and begin now to direct those influences, which, ten 
years hence, will be called into operation ; and should 
we thus labor year after year upon the best plan that 
prayerful consideration w^ill enable us to devise, 
would not our lives be spent to vastly better eifect? 

Again. The approaching crisis will demand a 
greater amount of intellectual vigor. The work will 
call for strong arms, and for very many of them. 
Ministers will find it necessary to devote themselves, 
more exclusively, to severe studies, to original thinking, 
and to every sort of discipline, which may render the 
mind a more efficient instrument for swaying the 
opinions of men. Perhaps it w^ill not be amiss to add, 
that the present state of society seems specially to 
demand of us, a more profound acquaintance with the 
evidences of revelation ; with the various connexions 
which God has established between moral laws, and 
the laws of the universe about us ; and above all, an 
intimate familiarity with the unadulterated oracles 
of divine truth, if possible, in the languages in which 
they w^ere originally written. 

But more than any thing else do we need improve- 
ment in personal piety, in the experience of religion 
in our own souls. We must approach nearer to the 
luminary, if vve would reflect more of his light. 



RELIGIOUS EFFORT. 161 

Nothing but ardent love to God, and unshaken trust 
in his promises, will animate us amid the labors to 
which the necessities of the church will call us. In 
the absence of these, we have no reason to expect 
that the influence of the Holy Spirit will attend upon 
our efforts, without which, they would be as unable 
to excite a holy volition, as to create a world. When 
ministers of Christ thus labor for Christ, thus love 
Him, and thus trust in Him, then may we hope to see 
the blessings of the day of Pentecost descend upon 
our American churches. 

But the principles which apply to a minister, apply, 
also, to every Christian man. I add, then, secondly, 
the necessities of the church require new efforts of 
laymen. A religious man, every where, and at all 
times, must be a religionist. 

It is necessary that Christians begin to use their 
property as stewards. The principles of the Gospel 
must be carried into the business of our every day's 
expenditure. We must sacrifice to Christ our love of 
pleasure, of ostentation, and of accumulation ; or we 
must cease to pray, "Thy kingdom come." I see 
men professing godliness, spending their property 
profusely, in obedience to all the calls of a world that 
knows not God ; or else hoarding it up, with miserly 
avarice, to ruin the souls of the rising generation ; 
but I confess, I do not see how they will answer for it 
"to the Judge of quick and dead." 

The cause of Christ requires of laymen a far 
greater amount of personal exertion. Suppose ye, that 
in apostolic times, the claims of religion would have 
required of a disciple, nothing more than a small 



162 ENCOURAGEMENTS TO 

portion of his income ? No ; when the time was 
come for the church to be enlarged, they that were 
scattered abroad, went every where preaching the 
word. Now we do not say, that you are required to 
be preachers ; but we do say, that religion requires 
you to consider the promotion of piety in the hearts 
of men as of more importance than every thing else. 
The management of the religious charities of the day 
belongs to you. It is now done principally by the 
clergy. Its tendency is to render them secular. It 
makes them men of executive energy, rather than of 
deep thought, and commanding eloquence. The 
cause would gain much by a division of labor. 
Brethren, you are called upon to come forward and 
relieve us from this service. But yet more ; every 
man who knows the value of the soul, may speak of 
its value to his neighbor. Any man of ordinary 
abilities, who feels the love of Christ, may give profit- 
able religious instruction to youth and children. The 
promotion of piety, in the hearts of others, should 
enter as much into every man's daily arrangements, 
as the care of the body that perisheth. When this 
spirit shall have become universal, something will 
be done. 

Do you say, that you have not the requisite infor- 
mation ? I ask, does it require much information, to 
remind men that they are going to the judgment seat 
of Christ? But, I say again, why have you not 
information ? That intellect is by far the most valua- 
ble, as well as the most improveable possession, with 
which God has entrusted you ; why have you not 
rendered it a better histrument, to serve Him ? 



RELIGIOUS EFFORT, 163 

Every Christian, in such a country as this, ought to 
be a well-informed man. 

And lastly, as I said before, the cause of Christ 
requires of private Christians, as well as of clergymen, 
deeper humility, more fervent piety, and a life of closer 
communion with God. Your money and labors, as 
well as our studies and preaching, will be despised, 
unless they be the offering of holy hearts. All, all 
are utterly valueless, unless the Spirit descend upon 
us from on high. Our alms will be as water spilled 
upon the ground, unless our souls are inflamed with 
the love of Christ, and our hearts are temples for the 
residence of the Holy Ghost. 

You see, then, what is required of us. I ask again, 
Christian brethren, are you ready for the effort ? 
Shall the kingdom of Christ come, or shall it not 
come? You have seen the option which the provi- 
dence of God has set before us. You have seen, so 
far as ourselves are concerned, on what that option is 
suspended. What will you do ? 1 put the question 
to the understanding, and the conscience of every 
man. Do you not believe, that by such an effort as I 
have suggested, the liberties of this country may be 
secured, and that, without it, there is every reason 
to fear that they will be irrecoverably lost ? Do you 
not believe, that, by such an effort, thousands of souls 
Will be saved from eternal perdition, and that, 
without it, those souls will not be saved ? Do you 
not believe, that, if such an effort were made in entire 
dependence on the Spirit of God, this country would 
be subjected to Jesus Christ, that his kingdom would 
come, and his will be done throughout our land; 



164 ENCOURAGEMENTS TO 

and that, if it be not made, there is every reason to 
fear, that His kingdom will not come for ages? Do 
you not believe, that there is not a moment to be lost, 
but that every thing depends upon the men of the pres- 
ent generation ? You are then in possession of all the 
facts necessary to a decision. You stand in the 
presence of Him, who died to redeem a world lying 
in wickedness, and at whose bar you must meet, 
again, the resolution of the present moment. In the 
presence of that Saviour, redeemed sinners, what 
will ye do ? 

Time will barely sufler me to allude, in the briefest 
manner, to that species of religious effort which has 
given occasion to this address. You cannot, however, 
have failed to observe, that if ever the Gospel is 
universally to prevail, it is by some such means as 
this, under God, that its triumph will be achieved. 
By furnishing employment for talent of every descrip- 
tion, the Sabbath School multiplies, almost indefinitely, 
the amount of benevolent effort, and awakens through- 
out every class of society the dormant spirit of Chris- 
tian philanthropy. It renders every teacher a student 
of the Bible ; and thus, in the most interesting manner, 
brings divine truth into immediate contact with the 
understanding and the conscience. All this it does 
to the teacher. But, beside all this, the Sabbath 
School is imbuing what will, twenty years hence, be 
the active population of this country, with the princi- 
ples of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is teaching 
that class of the community, into whose hands so soon 
the destinies of this country will fall, the precepts of 
inviolable justice, and eternal truth. But more than 



RELIGIOUS EFFORT. 165 

all, It IS implanting in the bosoms of millions of im- 
mortal souls, " that knowledge which is able to make 
them wise unto salvation, through the faith that is in 
Christ Jesus." How transcendently glorious are the 
privileges before us ! Who will not embark in this 
holy enterprise ? 

One remark more, and I have done. I behold be- 
fore me, the congregated wisdom of a most illustrious 
branch of the Christian church.*^ We are assembled 
in the midst of a city, renowned throughout the world 
for its deeds of mercy. The effects of our decisions 
may be felt in the remotest hamlet in the land. To 
us is offered the high honor of commencing this w^ork, 
in a manner that shall give the cheering promise 
of its successful completion ; and of awakening this 
new world to welcome the first beams of the Sun of 
Righteousness. 

Men, Brethren, and Fathers ! suffer me, in the 
name of the omniscient Saviour, to ask, what will you 
do ? Let every minister of the cross here ask himself, 
why, even during my own life time, should not the 
millennium commence in my congregation ? Here 
then, on the altar of God, let us offer ourselves up 
anew, and in the strength of Christ resolve, that we 
will henceforward live with direct reference to the 
immediate coming of his kingdom. Professional men, 
before you rest to-night, will ye dedicate that intellect, 
with which God has endowed you, with all the means 
of influence which it can command, to the service of 
your Redeemer ? Men of wealth, as ye retire from 

' The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the 
United StateS; was then in session in Philadelphia. 

15 



166 RELIGIOUS EFFORT. 

this place, will ye collect the title deeds of that 
property, which Providence hath lent you, and write 
upon them all, " Holiness to the Lord ?" A thousand 
times hav€ we said that we would do all this. Let 
the Spirit witness with our spirits, that we do it now, 
in view of the judgment seat of Christ. Christian 
men and women, in the Sabbath School, in the Bible 
Class, and by the use of all the means which God has 
placed in our power, let us labor to bring this world 
into immediate subjection to the Redeemer — or let 
us cease to pray ^'Thy kingdom come." May God 
enable us to act worthily : and to his name shall be 
the glory in Christ. Amen. 



MORAL EFFICACY 



OF THE 



DOCTRINE OF THE ATONEMENT. 



ROMANS VIIL 3, 4. 

FOR WHAT THE LAW COULD NOT DO, IN THAT IT WAS 
WEAK THROUGH THE FLESH, GOD SENDING HIS OWN SON 
IN THE LIKENESS OF SINFUL FLESH, AND FOR SIN, CON- 
DEMNED SIN IN THE flesh; THAT THE RIGHTEOUSNESS 
OF THE LAW MIGHT BE FULFILLED IN US, WHO WALK 
NOT AFTER THE FLESH, BUT AFTER THE SPIRIT. 

Without detaining you, my brethren, by a formal 
introduction, I remark, at once, that my object in 
this discourse is two-fold. I shall endeavor, first, to 
illustrate the meaning of the text ; and, secondly, to 
exhibit some of its applications to our belief and to 
our practice. 

I. I shall endeavor to illustrate the meaning of 
the text. In order to do this with the greater perspi- 
cuity, it will be convenient to consider, 1. What it is 
that the law could not do ; 2. The reason why the 
law could not do it ; 3. The remedy suggested ; and 
4. The result of the application of that remedy. 



168 TPIE MORAL EFFICACY 

1. What is it that ''the law could not do?" The 
meaning of this phrase is, I think, evident from the 
latter part of the passage. We are informed that 
" God sent his Son" to do '• what the law could not 
do;" that is, ''condemn or destroy the power of sin, 
that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in 
us." By the term " righteousness of the law" here, 
the same, I suppose, is meant as in the twenty-sixth 
verse of the second chapter of this epistle, where, it is 
said, " if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of 
the laic, sliall not his uncircumcision be counted for 
circumcision." Here, the words "righteousness of the 
law"" mean "the righteous precepts of the law," so that 
the meaning is, " if the Gentiles keep the righteous 
precepts of the law, shall they not be as favorably es- 
teemed of God as if they were Jews ?" So, in the 
present instance, I suppose the words, " that the 
ri2:hteousness of the law misht be fulfilled in us," to 
mean " that we might keep or fulfil the righteous 
precepts of the law." What the law could not do, 
therefore, is " f o enable us to Jieejf its own righteous 
precepts.^^ This is what the text represents us as in 
some sense enabled to do by the Gospel. That this 
is the meaning indicated by the context, will also be 
evident from the next consideration. 

2. What is the reason why the law could not en- 
able us to keep its own righteous precepts ? The 
apostle answers, " It was weak through the flesh." 
Let us proceed to examine this afiirmation. 

Every man, who has reflected at all upon the work- 
ings of his own moral nature, must be conscious of 
the existence of a faculty within him, which distin- 



OF THE ATONEMENT. 169 

guishes, more or less perfectly, between right and 
wrong in human action ; and w^hich authoritatively 
prompts to the doing of the one, and dissuades from 
the doing of the other. It is what is frequently called 
the moral sense or natural conscience, and the apostle 
frequently refers to it as instigating the heathen in the 
first chapter of his Epistle to the Romans. Again, 
every man must have had innumerable occasions to 
observe that this conscience, thus dictating to him 
his obligation to obey the law of God, is opposed by 
the appetites and passions of the human heart. These 
two contrary principles are referred to in the preced- 
ing chapter, under different names. The natural 
conscience is called "the inner man," "the law of 
my mind," "I," or "I myself." Our corrupt appe- 
tites and passions are termed "sin," "the law of 
sin," "the law in my members," and, sometimes, 
as in this case, " the flesh." Now the apostle asserts 
that in the present state of human nature, while con- 
science, in coincidence with the law of God, com- 
mands one thing, and our corrupt propensities, in op- 
position to the law of God, command another thing, 
we, that is, mankind, all men, obey our passions, and 
disobey God. To use his own language, " The law 
of sin that is in our members, wars against the law 
of our minds, and brings us into captivity to the law 
of sin that is in our members." This ascendency of 
our corrupt propensities over our conscience becomes 
habitual and established, so that we go on, from day 
to day and from year to year, doing what we know 
we ought not to do, and leaving undone what we 
know we ought to do. We have no disposition to 
15^ 



170 THE MORAL EFFICACY 

obey the law of God, and hence, so far as obedience 
to that law and respect for the authority of the Law- 
giver are concerned, we are, in the language of the 
Scripture, "dead in trespasses and sins;" that is, we 
are, by nature, in no wise animated by the spirit of 
obedience. 

Now the apostle declares that such being the moral 
character of man by nature, the law being thus 
rendered weak, that is, ineffectual by the flesh, it is 
unable to produce in us obedience; it has no power 
to overcome the ungovernable appetites and passions 
of the human heart. For, as you may observe, the 
case stood exactly thus. The man admits the holi- 
ness of the law, he acknowledges that he ought to 
obey it, he knows the nature of the penalty, and is 
aware that he is in danger of suffering it, but still he 
will not obey. He is willing to risk all, rather than 
reHnquish the pleasures of sin. And such does the 
Bible declare to be the state of all men by nature. 
They know their duty, but they do it not. 

In such a case as this, what can the law do ? It 
can make known the will of God, but the sinner has 
already known and has resolved to resist it. It can 
reveal the terrors of the penalty, but the sinner has 
determined to enjoy the pleasures of sin, although it 
cost his eternal ruin. What effect could civil law 
have upon a man who had deliberately resolved to 
disobey, all the penalty to the contrary notwithstand^ 
ing r The law would here be weak through the flesh, 
that is, through, or in consequence of, or in compari- I 
son with, the power of his corruptions. Besides, God 
requires not merely the sinner's doings, but the sin- 



OP THE ATONEMENT. 171 

ner's love. The terrors of the law can never awaken 
love. They can never touch the sinner's heart. 
They can never implant any new principle, and, with- 
out a new principle, there can be no obedience. 
Here then, again, is the law weak through the flesh, 
and so far as the law is concerned, the state of man 
is hopeless. 

3. We proceed to consider the remedy spoken of 
in the text. '* God sent his own Son in the likeness 
of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the 
flesh." The term, 'likeness of sinful flesh," means, 
'* the form of sinful human nature," The phrase 
"for sin" is a contraction for that of " offering for 
sin." We find the same expression used in Psalm 
40 : 6, and quoted by St. Paul, Hebrews 10 : 6. "In 
burnt offerings and offerings for sin, Thou hast no 
pleasure." The remedy, then, for our hopeless case 
is, that God has sent his Son, in the likeness of sinful 
human nature, as an offering for sin. 

It is here proper to remark an important distinction 
in the scriptural representations of this subject. The 
Bible, if I have not mistaken its meaning, speaks of 
the sacrifice of Christ as designed to have a two-fold 
effect. First, it is revealed to us as a propitiation, or 
as that which renders it consistent with justice that 
God should be propitious to sinners ; as that which 
removes the obstacles, which on the part of Divine 
holiness existed to our pardon. In this view, Christ 
is spoken of as "the Lamb of God that taketh away 
the sins of the world," as "the Lamb slain from the 
foundation of the world," as " He who died for our 
sins," and " He by whose stripes we are healed." 



172 THE MORAL EFFICACY 

But I think that the offering up of Christ is also pre- 
sented in another light, namely, as having special ref- 
erence, not to God, but to man ; and as distinctly- 
adapted to transform man into new obedience. Man 
is represented as alienated in his affections from God, 
and his moral powers are declared to be enfeebled 
and utterly enslaved by his sinful propensities. There 
was needed some manifestation on the part of God, 
not of wrath, that could not do it, but of love, to 
awaken a correspondent emotion on the part of man. 
There was needed some moral exhibition which should 
bear directly upon the conscience, which, appealing 
to every sentiment of gratitude, should call into new 
life man's moral powers, and which, disenthralling 
them from the bondage in which they had been held, 
should give them a victory over the sin that dwelleth 
in him. Now, this is precisely what is done by the 
offering up of Christ. God so loved the world, that he 
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth 
in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 
Thus it is that Christ crucified, though to the Jews a 
stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness, is yet 
to them that believe, Christ the power of God, and 
Christ the wisdom of God. Hence is the cross of 
Christ so often spoken of as the grand means both of 
converting and of sanctifying the world. Thus you 
see how the death of Christ is the grand centre of the 
whole system, the only means whereby the law of 
God could be magnified, the only means by which 
the enmity of our hearts can be slain. 

It is to this second design of the death of Christ, 
that I suppose the apostle to allude in the words of the 



OF THE ATONEMENT. 173 

text. In the third and fourth chapters of this epistle, 
he had abundantly shown that the death of Christ is 
the only meritorious cause of our justification before 
God. He here speaks of this event ^s the means of 
our personal delivery from the power of sin. This, 
then, is the nnoral remedy which the text presents for 
our helpless and hopeless state by nature. 

4. The text speaks of the effects of the application 
of this remedy, " to condemn sin in the flesh, that the 
righteousness of the law^ might be fulfilled in us." By 
'' condemning sin in the flesh," is meant destroying 
the powder of our sinful propensities over us. I have 
already spoken of the power of the flesh, that is, of 
the dominion, which by nature our lusts and appetites 
exercise over the moral powers of the soul. Now, 
when a manifestation is made to a man of the love of 
God in the sacrifice of Christ, anew energy is diffused 
through all his moral powers ; he bursts loose from the 
fetters which bound him, saying, what fruit have we 
in those things whereof we are now ashamed, for the 
end of these things is death ? And thus, the power of 
sin over us being broken, and it having no more the 
dominion over us that it once had, but the dominion 
being transferred to our new man, we are created in 
righteousness and true holiness. Thus, walking, not 
in obedience to the flesh, but to the Spirit, we are 
enabled to fulfil the righteous precepts of the law, in 
a manner such as, by all the terrors of the law, we 
never could have been made to do. 

When, however, I thus speak of a Christian's fulfil- 
ment of the law, 1 do not speak of a sinless fulfilment 
of it. I do, however, speak of an actual, visible pre- 



174 THE MORAL EFFICACY 

dominance of the disposition to obey the law of God, 
over the disposition to obey our sinful passions and 
appetites. The Bible alVvays supposes the best per- 
sonal righteousness of good men to be imperfect, both 
from intellectual darkness and moral frailty. It views 
pious men as liable to sin, as frequently sinning, and 
as at all times needing the guardian influences of the 
Holy Spirit. But, notwithstanding all this, it does 
steadfastly assert, that the disposition to obey God is 
the predominating principle in a Christian man. 
Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves ser- 
vants to obey, his servants ye are whom ye obey, 
whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righ- 
teousness } And again saith the apostle in the words 
succeeding those of the text, For they that are after 
the flesh do mindj that is, affect, desire, are pleased ivith, 
the things of the flesh ; and they that are after the 
Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 

It is scarcely necessary here to add, that I speak of 
this obedience, neither as a meritorious cause of justi- 
fication, nor as any cause of justification w^iatever. 
It is in the Scriptures abundantly declared, as I have 
before remarked, that the death of Christ is the only 
cause of our justification. I speak of it and of the 
necessity of it to our salvation, as a fact which God has 
revealed, without in this place connecting it with any 
thing else. The disposition to obey the w^ill of God, so 
far as he knows it, is the controlling disposition of a 
Christian. In this sense, therefore, is the righteousness 
of the law fulfilled in him. And the aposde abundantly 
shows, in the sixth chapter of this epistle, that, if this 
be not the case with us, we are no Christians. 



OF THE ATONEMENT. 175 

11. Some important views of divine truth seem 
intimately connected with the preceding discussion. 
To these, permit me, in the second place, to direct 
your attention. 

1. The sentiment of the text presents us with the 
striking contrast between the condition of the race of 
man under the law and his condition under the GospeL 

The law reveals the will of God, with its reward 
and its penalty. Upon every one who obeyed it, it 
would have conferred an unalterable title to the favor 
of God. But having been broken, as we have shown, 
and being, from the very nature of the Lawgiver, im- 
mutable, it could now do no more than premonish us 
of the wrath to come. And yet more, in consequence 
of breaking it, an effect is produced upon our own 
moral nature. A disposition to break it habitually, 
and a love for what it forbids, have obtained a fatal 
ascendency over us. The very fountain of our obe- 
dience has thus become corrupt. We love sin, and 
we do not love God. The law^ therefore can do noth- 
ing but foretell our doom. Now, we know that what 
things soever the law saith, it saith to those that are 
under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and 
all the world may become guilty before God. There- 
fore, by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified 
in His sight : for by the law is the knowledge of sin. 
Considered in respect to the law, therefore, there re- 
mained for our race nothing but the fearful looking 
for of judgment, and of fiery indignation, which must 
devour the adversary. Thus are we shut up unto 
the faith. 

Now, the Gospel presents the only way of escape 



176 THE MORAL EFFICACY 

for US in this otherwise hopeless case. It exhibits 
a provision made to meet both of these exigencies. 
In the first place, we are assured that, by the sacrifice 
of Christ, the law is magnified and made honorable. 
God can now be just, and the justifier of him that be- 
lieveth. But were this all, the work would still be 
imperfect. Of what use would be pardon to one still 
under the dominion of sin, and the slave of every 
guilty passion and unholy lust. There is still a neces- 
sity for some provision which shall awaken man to 
righteousness, and deliver him from the thraldom of 
his sinful propensities. And, behold, all this is done 
in the Gospel. The glorious manifestation of his love 
to man, which God has made in the atonement by 
Jesus Christ, when beheld by faith, that is, when con- 
templated exactly as it is, subdues the rebellious spirit 
and softens the heart into contrition. Against such 
love as this, when seen exactly as it is, the man can 
hold out no longer. For the first time in his life, he 
feels that he does not want to sin any more against 
such infinite goodness, and compassion, and holiness. 
The breath of spiritual life is breathed into him. He 
puts forth the first successful resistance to the sin that 
dwelleth in him. He is made free from sin, and is 
become the servant of God. Henceforth, he has his 
fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. If 
any man be in Christ, he is a new creature ; old things 
are passed away, behold, all things are become new. 
Let it not be said that by these remarks we exclude 
the necessity of the operation of the Holy Spirit. 
Exactly the contrary. The Scriptures represent the 
Holy Spirit as the efficient agent of every thing good 



OF THE ATONEMENT. , 177 

within us, and they also refer us to the means by 
which this agency is accomplished. Thus saith the 
Saviour, Sanctify them hy thy truth. It is said, He, 
that is, the Comforter, shall take of the things of 
mine, and show them unto you* Now it is these very 
things of Christ, specially the truth of his atonement 
for sin, and of pardon through his sacrifice, which the 
Holy Spirit uses, as the means of working a renewing 
and sanctifying effect upon the soul. 

You see, then, that, under the law, our whole race 
was doomed to unmitigated wrath ; for it is written, 
cursed is he that continueth not in all the thinais writ- 

o 

ten in the book of the law to do them. On the con- 
trary, the Gospel proclaims that the law is now 
magnified and made honorable, and to our whole race 
it declares that, though all have sinned and come short 
of the glory of God, yet we may now all be justified 
freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in 
Christ Jesus. The law was utterly unable to create 
within us any power either to obey its precepts, or to 
gain a victory over the sin that had enslaved us. 
Hence, under the law we were lying in utter moral 
helplessness, dead in trespasses and sins. The Gos- 
pel, on the contrary, spreads before the whole human 
race the sovereign remedy for their disease. As 
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so is 
the Son of Man lifted up, that whosoever believelh in 
him should not perish, but have everlasting life. The 
very fact which it reveals, when suitably contemplated, 
infuses into the soul a moral vigor by which it rises 
superior to the thraldom of its lusts, and stands forth 
in all the loveliness and all the dignity of a new 
16 



178 THE MORAL EFFICACY 

creature in Christ Jesus. If the Son shall make you 
free, ye shall be free indeed. 

You see, then, how emphatically is it true that all 
things are ready. Salvation is now as free to the 
human race as condemnation. If any man perish 
now, he has no one to blame but himself. The 
throne of God is now a mercy seat. God is recon- 
ciling the world unto himself, not imputing their tres- 
passes unto them. I Jesus have sent mine angel to 
testify unto you these things in the churches. I am 
the root and offspring of David, and the bright and 
morning star. And the Spirit and the bride say, come. 
And let him that heareth say, come. And let him 
that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him 
come and take of the water of life freely. 

I cannot conclude this topic of the discourse with- 
out one other remark. From what has been said, I 
think it must be already obvious that all this change in 
the nature of our relations with God ; all this transition 
from a state of hopeless condemnation, to a state in 
which reconciliation with God is full, free and abun- 
dant, all this possibility of pardon and sanctification 
comes through the death, sufferings and mediation of 
the Lord Jesus Christ. I have mentioned the condi- 
tion in which the Bible represents us to be, considered 
simply in relation to the law. Now, the race of man 
either is in this state of helpless sin and condemnation, 
or it is not. If it be, then there is no hope for any of 
our race, and nothing awaits us but the blackness of 
darkness forever. But if the race of man be not in 
this state of helpless condemnation, if there be any 
way of salvation for us which does not depend upon 



OF THE ATONEMENT. 179 

the perfection of our own righteousness, whence has 
arisen the change? The attributes of God have not 
faltered. The law of God has not been abrogated. 
The character of sin has not changed. No other 
event but the sacrifice of Christ has occurred, which 
could have affected our relations with God. All 
things else remain as they were from the beginning. 
Here then is the only hope of ruined, lost man. If 
God have not sent his Son as a sin offering, the con- 
dition of our race is utterly and absolutely hopeless. 
But it is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, 
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 
God hath set forth Christ Jesus to be a propitiation, 
through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness 
(clemency) in the remission of sins that are past, through 
the forbearance of God, to declare, I say, at this time, 
his righteousness, that He might be just and thejustifier 
of him that believeth in Jesus. 

Secondly, The sentiment of the text and the 
doctrines connected with it, illustrate, with sufficient 
clearness, the distinction between preaching the law 
and preaching the Gospel. 

To preach the law is to proclaim the rule which 
God has given for our conduct, with its reward and its 
penalty. And it matters not in what manner this is 
done ; if the precept alone be the burden of our 
preaching, we are ministers of the law. We may set 
it forth enforced by all the terrors of the eternal 
judgment, or by the milder motives derived from 
present interest and cultivated taste ; we may sternly 
expound the immutable moral precept, or we may 
eloquently descant upon its philosophy, and exhibit its 



180 THE MORAL EFFICACY 

coincidence with the universe around us ; from amid 
the ihunderings and lightnings of Sinai, we may utter 
the commandments of Moses, or from the top of Olivet, 
repeat the sermon of Jesus Christ ; if the character- 
istic trait of our preaching be merely the practice of 
the precept, we are strictly and truly ministers of the 
law. All this might have been done, and done equally 
well, had Jesus Christ never appeared to do away sin 
by the sacrifice of himself. 

On the contrary, the characteristic trait of the 
preaching of the Gospel consists, not in merely in- 
forming us of our danger, but in making this informa- 
tion subsidiary to an exhibition of the great plan of 
salvation by Christ. And yet more, it not only in- 
forms us what w^e must do, it also habitually presents 
before us that stupendous exhibition of the love of 
God, which is specially designed to create within 
us a desire to obey. To preach the Gospel is 
not merely to offer to every creature the salva- 
tion which Christ has purchased, but also to present 
the love of God in sending his Son, and the love of 
Christ in dying for us, and the astonishing benefits 
w^iich he offers to confer upon us, as well as the awful 
condemnation from which he offers to rescue us, as 
the motives which should urge us to accept of this 
salvation. Unless we do this, we may be skilful 
expounders of the law, we may be good ethical phi- 
losophers, but, are we preachers of the Gospel ? 

Nor let it be said that, by thus preaching the Gos- 
pel, we set aside the law and open the door to licen- 
tiousness. It is not so, if we preach the Gospel as 
Paul preached it. No one ever more strenuously 



OF THE ATONEMENT. 181 

asserted the doctrine of justification through the merits 
of another; and surely no one more solemnly or more 
intrepidly proclaimed the absolute necessity of personal 
holiness to every one who hoped to be justified. 
Besides, the law may evidently be preached without 
preaching the Gospel ; but the reverse of this is not 
true. The law makes a part of the Gospel, but the 
Gospel makes no part of the law. The Gospel tells 
us how we may be saved from the curse of the law ; 
it must, therefore, tell us what that curse is, and what 
will be the consequences if we are not saved from it. 
You may tell a man of his danger, without telling him 
how to avoid it; but you can scarcely tell him how to 
avoid a danger, without telling him what the danger is. 

And thirdly. Hence you see why the ministers of 
Christ should be preachers of the Gospel, in distinction 
from being preachers of the law, 1st. Christ has not 
commissioned us as preachers of the law, but as 
preachers of the Gospel. 2d. Only by preaching the 
Gospel can we hope to produce the great end which 
our ministry has in view. 

1. Christ has not commissioned us as preachers of 
the law, but as preachers of the Gospel. The law 
has but two announcements. He that doeth these things 
shall live by them; and. Cursed is every man that contin- 
ueth not in all things written in the book of the law to 
do them. The righteousness that is of faith, on the 
contrary, speaketh on this wise; the word is nigh thee, 
even in thy mouth and in thy heart, that if thou shalt 
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt he-- 
lieve in thine heart that God hath raised him from the 
dead, thou shalt be saved. For the Scripture sailh, 
16^ 



182 THE MORAL EFFICACY 

whosoever heJieveth on him shall not be ashamed. And 
thus, in the words of our ascending Redeemer, we are 
commissioned, Go ye into all the world, and preach 
the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and 
is baptized shall be saved, he that believeth not shall 
be damned. Now then, said the apostle, we are am- 
bassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you 
by us, we pray you, in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled 
unto God. Such, then, being our glorious privilege, 
such our message of surpassing mercy, shall we ex- 
change the ministration of the Spirit for the ministration 
of death; the ministration of righteousness, (clemency) 
for the ministration of condemnation. 

2. As I have said, nothing but the preaching of 
the Gospel can accomplish the object which the min- 
ister of Christ has in view. 

The object of the teacher of religion is, by the pro- 
duction of a moral change and by the cultivation of 
holiness in the soul, to prepare men for heaven. 
These effects will be produced, as .w^e awaken or 
increase in men, hatred to sin, and love to God. 

Hatred to si?i. The law can do no more than pro- 
claim the guilt and set before us the penalty of trans- 
gression. It may terrify us with the consequences of 
sin, but it can work no change in the affections. It 
may occasionally restrain us from the commission of 
sin, but it has no power to render sin itself odious ; 
and, until this be done, the moral nature of the man is 
unchanged. The Gospel, on the contrary, whilst it 
asserts that the law is holy and the commandment 
holy, and just, and good, presents to us the spectacle 
of the Son of God offering himself up as a propitiation 



OF THE ATONEMENT. 183 

for our sins. It tells us that the Word who was in 
the beginning with God ; who was God, without whom 
was not any thing made that was made, assumed our 
nature, bore our infirmuies, received the stroke that 
must have smitten us to perdition, and thus by his own 
blood obtained eternal redemption for us. Before, 
we saw the evil of sin only in the terrors of the penalty 
with which it threatened us ; now, we see it in the 
fact, that nothing less than such an atonement, and by 
such an High Priest, could have rendered our ransom 
possible. If any thing can, with emphasis, exhibit to 
us the odiousness of sin, it is the spectacle of such a 
Saviour suffering, that sinners, such as we, might hope 
for pardon. 

Equally powerful is the Gospel, in awakening and 
exciting our love to God, The law reveals Jehovah 
in all the majesty, but also in all the terrors of justice. 
He is holy, and just, and good ; but all that holiness, 
and justice, and goodness are set in array against me, 
for I am a rebel against him. The Gospel, on the 
contrary, represents all these attributes magnified, 
while, as a returning penitent, I may be pardoned. 
God is reconciling the world unto himself by Christ 
Jesus, not imputing their trespasses unto them. It is 
God, the King eternal, immortal and invisible, having 
given up his well beloved Son unto the death for us; 
and having removed every obstacle on his part to our 
pardon, and having sent his Spirit to renew and sanctify 
us, after all this, humbling himself to conform to our 
weakness, to use our language, and by every motive 
which the most moving tenderness could suggest, 
beseeching us to accept of the pardon and the eternal 



184 THE MORAL EFFICACY 

life which He had so dearly purchased for us; and 
when rejected, insulted and despised, again and again 
beseeching us, in the accents of the most affectionate 
endearment, and with all the yearning of an aggrieved 
parent, saying unto us, Return, ye backsliding children, 
for I am married unto you. How shall I give thee 
up, Ephraim, how shall 1 dehver thee, Israel, how 
shall I make thee as Admah, how shall I set thee as 
Zeboim ? Mine heart is turned within me, my repent- 
ings are kindled together. Ah, my brethren, it is 
such exhibitions as these that soften the heart into 
contrition, and draw" out the soul in gratitude to God. 
When all this is contemplated in simple verity, not 
even the rebellious spirit of man can withstand it. He 
is melted into repentance. He cannot any more sin 
against such holy, aggrieved, abused, infinite long 
suffering. The love of God is shed abroad in his 
heart, through the Holy Ghost that is given him. 
Truly, my brethren, the moral power of the Bible 
resides in the simple, earnest, affectionate exhibition 
of the love of God in the cross of Jesus Christ. To 
this the apostle Paul alludes, in his memorable prayer 
for his beloved brethren at Ephesus. For this cause, 
I bow my knees unto the God and Father of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, of whom the whole fam.ily in heaven and 
earth is named, that He would give you, according to 
the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might 
by his Spirit in the inner man ; that Christ may dwell 
in your hearts by faith ; that ye, being rooted and 
grounded in love, may be able to comprehend, with 
all saints, what is the length, and the breadth, and the 
depth, and the height, and to know the love of Christ 



OF THE ATONEMENT. 185 

that passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with 
all the fullness of God. 

Not only is it thus evident from the nature of 
the human mind, that the exhibition of the love of 
God in the sacrifice of Christ, is the means best 
adapted to produce moral transformation, it is equally 
evident from the New Testament, that this is the means 
specially designed hy God for this very purpose. To 
establish this point, a very few passages will suffice. 

2 Cor. 5 :21. For he hath made him to be sin (a 
sin offering) for us, who himself knew no sin, that we 
might be made the righteousness of God (righteous 
before God) through him. 

1 Peter, 2 : 24. Who himself bare our sins in his 
own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sin, 
should live unto righteousness ; by whose stripes ye 
are healed. For ye were as sheep going astray, but 
are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of 
your souls. Col. 1 : 22, 23. And you who were some- 
times alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked 
works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of 
his flesh through death (by dying in our nature), to 
present you holy and unblarneable andunreproveable in 
his sight. Thus also in the words of the text, which 
I will give here in their natural order, that the sen- 
timent which they contain may be more clearly seen. 
God sent his Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh, as a 
sin offering, to do what the law could not do (inasmuch 
as it was weak through the flesh,) that is, destroy the 
power of sin in the flesh, so that we, who walk not 
after the flesh but after the Spirit, might fulfil the 
righteous precepts of the law. 



186 THE MORAL EFFICACY 

On these passages, 1 need not enlarge. They 
however present, in a few words, what the Scriptures 
elsewhere abundantly confirm, that the sacrifice of 
Christ is the great cause, not only of our justification, 
but also of our sanctification. This, then, is the exhi- 
bition which God would have us present before men, 
in order to accomplish his most merciful purpose. 

Again, the preaching of the Gospel, or of pardon 
by the death of Christ, is the means which, above 
every other, God has always blest for accomplishing 
the great end of the Christian ministry. 

It was so in the times of the apostles. You all 
know the success which attended their ministry. 
Thousands were converted by the preaching of a 
single sermon. Cities and Provinces were made 
obedient to the faith, until, within a few years after 
the death of Christ, multitudes of converts filled every 
part of the Roman empire. And what was the distin- 
guishing feature of their preaching? Repent, said 
Peter, on the day of Pentecost, and be baptized, every 
one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the re- 
mission of sins, for the promise is unto you and your 
children, and to all that are afar off. But let the 
apostle to the Gentiles answer for the rest. We preach 
Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block, and 
to the Greeks foolishness, but to you who are called, 
both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and 
Christ the wisdom of God. Again, saith he, I, breth- 
ren, wdien I came to you, came not with excellency 
of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testi- 
mony of God ; for I determined not to know any thing 
among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified. 



OF THE ATONEMENT. 187 

Paul was an erudite man. He was an eloquent man* 
He was a most acute and profound logician. Splendid 
opportunity for the exercise of all these talents might 
have been found, in enforcing the ethics of the Gospel, 
and from them he might have brought many a con- 
vincing demonstration to bear upon the conscien- 
ces of the learned and accomplished citizens of 
Corinth. And more than this. The author of the 
epistle to the Romans was formed by nature to cope 
with the ablest of the Heathen Philosophers. In 
possession of the superior advantages for moral reason- 
ing which Christianity had conferred upon him, there 
was not one of them, whom in the fair field of argu- 
ment, he could not have met and vanquished. All 
this he could have done. But none of this did he do. 
The subject of his preaching was not even Jesus 
Christ in his meekness, or his wisdom, or his sublimity, 
or his eloquence, but it was Jesus Christ and him 
crucified. And this was his theme every where. He 
was full of it on every occasion. We know what was 
the effect of his preaching thus, and we have reason 
to believe that his success would have been very differ- 
ent, had that preaching been different. 

Nor has the case altered from that day to this. 
The heart of man is still the same, and what was pow- 
erful to affect it then, will be powerful to affect it now. 
Whether among civilized or among savage men, the 
result has been every where the same. Whenever 
and wherever the love of God in Christ Jesus has 
been preached in simplicity and sincerity, then and 
there have been produced the most salutary effects 
upon the moral character of man. I know not how I 



188 THE MORAL EFFICACY 

can in any other way illustrate this remark so appro- 
priately, as by referring to the experience of the 
Moravian Missionaries, as it has been, of late, elo- 
quently set before you by a distinguished clergyman"^ 
of this city. 

" For five years after the Moravian Mission to 
Greenland was established, the missionaries confined 
themselves to teaching the heathen the ' being and 
character of God, the creation of the world, the fall 
of man, and the requirements of the divine law.' And 
what was the result of this teaching, after it had been 
continued with an assiduity, fidelity and patience which 
have never been surpassed? Why nothing, absolutely 
nothing. The Brethren were reviled, insulted, pelted 
with stones, their goods were seized, shattered to 
pieces, and they were even threatened with death. 

" About the close of this period, some Southlanders 
happened to visit the Brethren, as one of them was 
writing out a fair copy of a translation of the Gospel. 
They were curious to know what was in the book, 
and on hearing read the history of Christ's agony in 
the garden, one of the savages, named Kaiarnak, step- 
ped up to the table, and, in an earnest, affecting man- 
ner, said. How was that? Tell me it once more, for 
I also would fain be saved. These words, the like 
of which the missionary had never heard from the lips 
of a Greenlander, penetrated his whole soul, so that 
the tears rolled down his cheeks, while he gave an 
account of the life and death of Christ, and of the 
plan of salvation through him, describing with more 

* Rev. Dr. Wisner, in his Sermon before the Society for propa- 
gating the Gospel, pp. 19, 22. 



OF THE ATONEMENT. 189 

than ordinary force and energy, his sufferings in the 
garden and on the cross. The savages listened with 
fixed attention ; some of them requested that they 
might be taught to pray, and when the missionaries 
did pray with them, they repeated their expressions 
so that they migiit not forget them. • — And on leaving, 
they said they would come again and hear of those 
things. And from that period, Kaiarnak made fre- 
quent visits to the Brethren, and at length took up his 
residence with them; and after about a year, giving a 
satisfactory evidence of a work of grace on his heart, 
he was received into the church. 

}' As yet, however, the missionaries had made no 
definite change in their method of instructing the peo- 
ple. Soon Kaiarnak left them, to return to his coun- 
trymen in the south. After about a year's absence, 
he returned, to their unspeakable joy, bringing with 
him a brother and his family, and saying that all that 
he had heard from the missionaries he had made 
known to his countrymen." He had thus, by merely 
relating what he had known, become a more successful 
preacher than his teachers. They saw the import of 
his admonition. " They henceforth directed the at- 
tention of their people, in the first instance, to Christ 
Jesus, his incarnation, his life, and especially his suf- 
ferings and death." And this method of preaching 
was attended with immediate success. — Say they, 
"It illuminated their darkened understandings, melted 
their stubborn hearts, and kindled in their cold, icy 
breasts the flame of spiritual life." — The news of this 
change in their mode of preaching, and of the different 
effect which resulted from it, were soon made known 
17 



190 THE MORAL EFFICACY 

among the missionary stations, and corresponding con- 
sequences ensued. — And now the recorded testimony 
of these indefatigable and most successful laborers in 
converting the heathen is, that experience has taught 
them, that in attempting to propagate Christianity 
among the heathen, little is effected by beginning with 
the principles of natural religion, as the existence of 
God, the perfection of his nature, or the duties of 
morality, in order to prepare them for receiving the 
Gospel, and that after many years' trial in different 
countries, and under every variety of circumstances, 
they have found that the simple testimony of the suf- 
ferings and death of Christ, delivered by a missionary 
possessed of an experienced sense of his love, is the 
most certain and the most effectual method of con- 
verting the heathen."^ 

" And now*, listen to the individual testimony of one 
of their most remarkable converts. He was a North 
American Indian. ' When the missionary came to 
his tribe, he was,' says the history, ' the greatest 
drunkard in the whole town ; he was quite outrageous 
in sin, and had even rendered himself a cripple by his 
debaucheries. But soon he was remarkably and per- 
manently changed. The drunkard had learned to be 
sober ; and the man who was as savage as a bear had 
become as mild and peaceful as a lamb. He after- 
wards gave the Brethren the following simple and in- 

* Brown's History of Missions, pp. 107, 109. ^' It is proper, 
however, to remark, that though the brethren make the death of 
Christ the grand subject of their preaching to the Heathen, they 
by no means confine their instruction to this particular point. 
There is no part of divine truth, whether of a doctrinal or practical 
nature, but what they endeavor by degrees to instil into the minds 
of their converts." 



OF THE ATONEMENT. 191 

structive account of his conversion. ' I,' said he, ' have 
been a heathen, and have grown old among the heath- 
en, therefore, I know how the heathen think. — Once 
a preacher came and began to tell us that there was a 
God. We answered him, saying, Dost thou think us 
so ignorant as not to know that. Go back to the place 
from whence thou camest. Then another preacher 
came to us and began to say. You must not steal, nor 
lie, nor get drunk. To him we answered, thou fool, 
dost thou think that we do not know that. Learn, 
first, thyself, and then teach thine own people to leave 
off these practices ; for who steal, or lie, or are more 
drunken than the white men ? Thus we dismissed 
him. After some time, brother Ranch, (the Moravian 
Missionary) came into my hut and sat down by me. 
He then spoke to me as follows. I am come to you 
in the name of the Lord of heaven and earth. He 
sends me to let you know that he will make you happy, 
and deliver you from that misery in which you at 
present lie. For this purpose, he became a man, 
gave his life a ransom, and shed his blood for you. 
When he had finished his discourse, he laid down on 
a board, fatigued with his journey, and fell into a 
sound sleep. I then thought, what kind of a man is 
this ? There he sleeps, I might kill him and throw 
him into the wood and who would regard it ? But 
this gives him no care or concern. At the same time, 
I could not forget his words. They constantly recur- 
red to my mind. Even when I slept, I dreamed of 
the blood which Christ shed for us. I found this to be 
something very different from what I had ever heard 
before, and I interpreted brother Rauch's words to 



192 THE MORAL EFFICACY 

the other Indians. Thus, through the grace of God, 
an awakening began amongst us.' Brethren, preach 
Christ our Saviour, his sufferings and death, if you 
would have your words gain entrance among the 
heathen." 

So numerous and so cogent, my brethren, are the 
reasons why a rehgious teacher under the New Testa- 
ment should be a preacher of the Gospel, and not 
a preacher of the law. It only remains that I close 
this already protracted discussion by two brief re- 
flections. 

1. The text declares that Jesus came to do for 
us what the law could not do ; "destroy the power of 
sin within us, that we might fulfil the righteous pre- 
cepts of the law." All of us who have professed the 
Christian religion suppose ourselves in a state of sal- 
vation, that is, that we have a valid title to the bles- 
sings purchased by the death of Christ. Now, the 
text declares that if this title be valid, the reigning 
power of sin is destroyed, and that we do, in sincerity, 
keep the righteous precepts of the law. Here then 
is a sure test of our Christianity. How is it w^ith 
us ? Let us bring our lives to this test. When our 
passions command one thing and God commands 
another, which do we obey ? When the love of the 
world commands one thing, and the love of Christ 
commands another, which do we obey ? When pride 
commands one thing, and God commands another, 
which do we obey? When the love of ease commands 
one thing, and the love of souls commands another, 
which do we obey ? When the love of human applause 
commands one thing, and Christ commands another. 



OF THE ATONEMENT. 193 

which do we obey ? Brethren, it is from the answers 
to such questions as these that we may learn whether 
we are or are not interested in the blessings purchased 
by the offering up of Jesus Christ. 

2. Brethren in the ministry, are w^e not in danger 
of losing sight of the practical importance of these 
truths. While we steadfastly believe in Jesus Christ 
and in Him crucified, may we not be preachers of the 
law. There is a beauty and a symmetry in the ethics 
of the Gospel, there is an adaptedness to the situation 
and wants of man in all the moral laws of God, which 
afford a most delightful and profitable field for intel- 
lectual research, and which may frequently enable us 
to surround our discourses with all the spleridor of a 
moral demonstration. We may thus awaken inquiry 
and silence objection ; we may establish much that is 
true, and put to shame much that is false ; and, so far 
as it goes, all this is well. But let us remember that 
if this be all; if the distinguishing feature of our 
preaching be the ethics of the Gospel, the system of 
duties revealed in the Bible, then the distinguishing 
feature of it is not Jesus Christ and Him crucified ; 
and we are not in this sense preachers of the Gospel. 
And I make this remark the more willingly, because 
this age is considered by many persons in a peculiar 
sense intellectual, and the simple epithet intellectual, 
is, as a term of commendation, made to stand, in re- 
ligious matters, for very much more than it is worth. 
Hence we are liable, unconsciously, to find ourselves 
presenting habitually those truths which address the 
understanding in the place of those which address the 
conscience, and of presenting those which address the 
17^ 



194 THE ATONEMENT EFFICACIOUS. 

conscience rather as matters of controversy than as 
motives to holiness. May God grant that none of us 
may ever err in this manner. But, in simplicity and 
sincerity, without the fear of man but in the fear of 
God, without wavering and without controversy, may 
we all determine to know nothing among men, but 
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Amen. 



ELEVATED ATTAINMENTS IN PIETY 



ESSENTIAL TO A 



SUCCESSFUL STUDY OF THE SCRIPTURES. 



ACTS VI. 4. 



BUT WE WILL GIVE OURSELVES CONTINUALLY TO PRAYER, 
AND TO THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD. 

The duties specially appropriate to the clerical 
office, are either those of seclusion, or those of pub- 
licity. Those of the first class are performed in the 
study ; they are the processes of intellection and of 
conscience, which must be carried on alone in the 
secret chambers of a man's own bosom, or in abstracted 
communion with inspired and uninspired understand- 
ing, or in working out the materials thus acquired, into 
the means for practical effect. Those of the second 
class, are the results of what has thus gone before, 
and are witnessed when the intellect and the conscience 
of the clergyman come into contact with the intellect 
and the conscience of the men who are about him. 
It is to the first of this class of duties that the apostle 
Paul refers, when he instructs Timothy to meditate 



196 MINISTERIAL PIETY. 

upoQ these things, to give himself wholly to them ; 
and to the second, when, in another place, he adds, 
Preach the word ; be instant in season, and out of sea- 
son ; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long suffering 
and doctrine. In the words of the text, they are both 
connected together. We will give ourselves continually 
to prayer^ and to the ministry of the word. 

And yet more ; not only are these the duties of a 
minister of Jesus Christ ; the context would lead us 
to infer that, in as far as he is a minister of Jesus 
Christ, they are his whole duties. The apostles would 
not allow themselves to be diverted from this their 
appropriate business, even by the pressing call to ad- 
minister the charities of the church. They considered 
that, if they were set apart to the care of the spiritual 
interests of man, this was of itself an all-engrossing 
trust. How far this example is ob]i£:atory upon us in 
the present age of the church, we will not, on this oc- 
casion, pretend to decide. We will only remark, that 
the moral interests of any congregation seem abundantly 
sufficient to occupy to the full the talents of any single 
individual ; and it may well become a matter of serious 
inquiry, whether those interests, surely more important 
than any other, must not suffer, if the time of a cler- 
gyman be distracted by the multifarious avocations 
which concern the general interests of religion. And 
if it be asked how these general interests are to be 
promoted, unless they be sustained by the active 
service of the minister of the Gospel, we answer, the 
passage from which the text is taken, directs us to the 
course to be pursued. Wherefore, brethren, look ye 
out among you seven men, of honest report, full of 



MINISTERIAL PIETY. 197 

the Holy Ghost, and of wisdom, whom we may appoint 
over this business. The remedy must come from the 
laity. Each one must give not only his money, but 
his personal service, to the cause of Christ, that the 
minister may be consecrated to the duties of his more 
immediate function. 

But, to recur again to the remark with which we 
commenced ; the duties of a clergyman are those of 
seclusion, and those of publicity. It is to some con- 
siderations connected whh the first of these, namely, 
his duties of preparation for his public ministration, to 
which we w^ould, on this occasion, invite your attention. 
And the object which we have specially in view, will 
be, to illustrate the connexion which subsists between 
high attainments in personal piety, and the successful 
preparation for ministerial duty. And, after having 
thus restricted ourselves, we shall be obliged to select 
a few from the various topics which press upon our 
attention, and to discuss even these with a brevity ill 
suited to their importance. 

It is hardly necessary that I commence with re- 
minding you of the great diversity of moral acquisition 
which exists among those whom we hope to be relig- 
ious men. We frequently observe a piety which 
touches, with inconstant hand, the commoner affections 
of the soul ; and its notes are, as might be expected, 
fitful and discordant. It rules, but by seasons, the 
movements of the understanding, and controls but im- 
perfectly, the decisions of the conscience. Hence, 
we see it connected with very inadequate ideas of the 
requirements of the law of God; we behold it in the 
indulgence of many a bias which a more elevated 



198 MINISTERIAL PIETY. 

piety would have corrected, and in the omission of 
many a duty, which a more thorough piety would have 
fulfilled. So mixed and associated is it with all that 
is variable in the natural temperament, as frequently 
to render it doubtful whether it be at all of the opera- 
tion of God. And then, again, the charity, which 
covereth a multitude of sins, teaches us to hope that, 
amid so much that is wrong, there may be something 
that is right. After all, we are, in many cases, obliged 
to suspend any opinion concerning it, and leave the 
case to Him that judgeth righteously. I surely need 
not remark, that this is not the standard of moral at- 
tainment appropriate for him who is to be an example 
to believers in all things. 

Again, there is another type of piety which has its 
^lace amid the graver powers of the soul. It regulates 
more steadily the will, subdues more powerfully the 
desires, and produces, within the limit of its range, a 
far more consistent moral exhibition than that of which 
we have just spoken. Convince the man whom it 
distinguishes, what is right, and though you may regret 
that it is so hard to convince him, yet, having done 
this, you may be sure that he will act accordingly. 
Now all this is well ; but what is not so well is, that 
his progress in the path of duty has more of the mo- 
notony of a moving machine, than the buoyant elasticity 
of delighted life. He does what is right, and does it, 
we trust, from the heart ; but he does not do it with 
the heart. And yet, this man, so quiescent in religion, 
will be kindled into animation by political discussion. 
That imagination, so languid when looking forward 
into eternity, will be powerfully enough excited by 



MINISTERIAL PIETY. 199 

the visions of poetry. That it is religion, we have 
reason to hope, for it makes sacrifices for God, and its 
moral energy rises with the pressure that is laid upon 
it ; but that it is very imperfect religion, there is as 
little reason to doubt. Its affections are dull, torpid, 
and inactive. It has little to do with deep felt awe, 
with holy reverence, with ardent love, or with un- 
quenchable desire after communion with God. We 
fear that the Saviour would direct to it the rebuke 
which he formerly uttered against the church at Eph- 
esus : " I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy pa- 
tience, and how thou canst not bear them which are 
evil, and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my 
name's sake hast labored, and hast not fainted ; never- 
theless, I have somewhat against thee, because thou 
hast left thy first love." You will anticipate me, in 
saying, that neither is this the piety which should sat- 
isfy the desires of a minister of Christ. 

But there is yet another degree of moral attainment, 
far transcending all that we see in the ordinary exhibi- 
tions of religious character. It is one which exempli- 
fies that saying of the Apostle : If any man be in 
Christ, there is a new creation ; old things are passed 
away, behold, all things are become new. Not only 
does it withhold from the doing of wrong and incite to 
the doing of right, but it awakes to vigorous action, 
and imbues with a Heaven-born energy, every power 
of the soul. In honest and unexaggerated simplicity, 
it raises the affections from things on the earth, and 
fixes them upon things in heaven, and breathes forth 
the desires which it has created in such language as 
this : As the hart panteth for the water-brook, so 



200 MINISTERIAL PIETY. 

panteth my soul after Thee, O God. My soul thirst- 
eth for God, yea, the living God ; when shall I arise 
and appear before God ? It is a piety which is seen 
in unfeigned humility, in heart searching repentance, 
in active faith, in animated hope, in habitual self-denials, 
in victories over the world, in fervent charity, in love 
to the souls, and, also, to the bodies of men; — it is 
nourished by fervent prayer, by near communion with 
God, by habitual contemplations of the perfections of 
the uncreated Holy One, and by a fixed respect to 
Heaven, and hell, and judgment, and eternity, and all 
that the Bible has revealed concerning the things which 
are not seen. Such was evidently the piety of Apos- 
tles, and martyrs, and confessors, in the primitive ages 
of the church. Such, in later days, has been the 
piety of Baxter and of Leighton, of Pascal and of 
Fenelon, of Brainerd and of Pearce, of Martyn and 
of Payson. It is this degree of piety which should be, 
if I may so speak, the professional aim of the min- 
ister of the Gospel ; and it is this of w^hich we would 
now illustrate the effects in the various departments of 
his retired and unseen labor. 

In illustrating the importance of this temper of heart 
to ministerial study, we shall endeavor to show its 
effect upon the original powers of the mind ; upon the 
application of those powers to the investigation of 
divine truth ; and, lastly, upon the ability to enforce 
that truth upon the consciences of men. 

I. Let us then, first, consider the effect of 

ARDENT PIETY UPON THE ORIGINAL FACULTIES OF 
THE MIND. 

It concentrates their exertions. 



MINISTERIAL PIETY. 201 

The ray which falls upon this world from the Sun 
of Righteousness, is constant and invariable. Where 
once its light and shade have fallen, there they remain 
unchangeable for ever. He who looks upon the 
world through this medium, cannot be deluded by the 
fantastic and unsubstantial looming of sublunary glory. 
He sees his object clearly, and he marks with intuitive 
accuracy the line which is drawn around every thing 
irrelative to it. With his end thus clearly in view, he 
is not led astray by those bewildering pursuits in which 
the exertions of other men are so lamentably frittered 
away. Every thing presents itself to him in its true 
color and its real dimensions, and day after day it 
appears invariably the same. Whilst the decisions of 
a less religious man are balancing between this world 
and the next, between present ease and future glory, 
he has already decided ; for he has asked, how will it 
appear at the judgment seat of Christ ? Hence, every 
power being moved by one principle, and directed to 
one object, he stands a pre-eminent exemplification of 
simplicity of purpose. 

In the next place, ardent piety excites the original 
powers of the mind to vigorous and continued action. 

To a thoughtful mind there is scarcely a more 
melancholy picture of man, than that which is presented 
by the comparison of what he is, with what he might 
have been. It is humiliating to think, even for a mo- 
ment, upon the endowments of a human soul, and then 
to think of what, among the myriads of our race, is 
the amount of individual accomplishment. When we 
have said that a unit has been added and a unit has 
been taken away from the sum of human existence, it 
18 



202 MINISTERIAL PIETY. 

would seem as though we had told all, that, to human 
eye, was important in the life of millions of our race* 
And if we ascend to the walks of educated, or even of 
professional life, how deplorable is the spectacle ! 
We see, in the majority of instances, scarcely the en- 
deavor after distinguished excellence, or, at best, the 
casual, half formed resolution, successful after long 
periods of inactivity, if successful at all, rather by ac- 
cident than by power ; but more frequently sinking to 
the grave in pitiable and yet patient oblivion. And 
those who succeed well devote but a small portion of 
their time to intellectual labor. The productions of 
genius are perhaps more frequently than otherwise the 
results of mighty, but transient effort, following, and 
again to be succeeded by, long intervals of inaction. 
Whilst we rejoice at what is done, we sigh to reflect 
how much that was possible, is left undone. O, had 
that intellect wrought thus powerfully, without ceasing, 
how stupendous would have been the result of its ulti- 
mate effort, how gloriously would it have dispelled the 
darkness of ignorance, and how widely would it have 
poured the light of truth upon the intellect of man ! 

Now, against this malady of our race, the pressure 
of this vis inertice of our fallen nature, ardent piety is 
surely the best preservative. It teaches a man the full 
weight of those obligations which bind him to the God 
who made him, and to the Saviour who redeemed 
him. It teaches him that every intellectual power is 
a most precious talent, and every moment of time an 
invaluable treasure, and that God hath required him 
to improve them to the uttermost. He cannot be 
idle, nay, he cannot be frivolous, without being sinful, 



MINISTEHIAL PIETY. 203 

and he cannot be sinful without grieving the God 
whom he loves. Every principle which animates his 
bosom, teaches him to put forth every energy in the 
cause of Christ, that so he may finish his course with 
joy, and the ministry which he has received of the 
Lord Jesus, 

And beside this, the motives which influence him 
are such as call forth his powers to the uttermost* 
His own *soul is at stake. The slothful servant was 
cast out, not because he had wasted his Lord's money, 
but because he had not improved it. The souls of 
other men are at stake. Eternal interests, the desti- 
nies of his people, tremendous thought ! are connected, 
most intimately connected, with his exertions. He 
would secure for himself and for them, salvation from 
a doom, in comparison with which all that can be con- 
ceived of sublunary infelicity dwindles to a point ; and 
the bliss which he would attain is such, that every 
thing earthly sustains to it only the relation of finite to 
infinity. The frown of God awes him. The favor of 
God animates him. The love of Christ consti^ins 
him. He looks abroad over the wide field of seen 
and unseen being, and every thing urges him to stren- 
uous, to agonizing labor. From time and from eternity, 
from things present and from things to come, from 
death and from judgment, from heaven and from hell, 
a voice addresses him, saying. Whatsoever thy hand 
findeth to do, do it with thy might ; for there is no 
knowledge, nor work, nor device, in the grave. 

And yet, again, the subjects on which a man of deep 
devotion loves best to meditate, are preeminently 
adapted to impart vigor and expansiveness to every 



204 MINISTERIAL PIETY. 

power of the soul. Such a man has to do, not with 
things which are seen, which are temporal, but with 
things that are not seen, which are eternal. He ex- 
patiates not over this little limited sphere of tangible 
materialism, but over that glorious region of uncreated 
purity, which revelation discloses to the eye of faith. 
The perfections of God ; the illustrations of his ever 
acting power ; the transcendent combinations of his 
unfathomable wisdom ; the awful exhibitions of his 
spotless holiness ; the aifecting displays of his incon- 
ceivable love ; the mysteries of providence and of re- 
demption, and all the various aspects in which these are 
presented, by aught that has been seen in the visible, 
or revealed in the invisible world ; these are the sub- 
jects of his reverential meditation. Tell me now, 
whether there be any other man, whose contemplations 
are so adapted to mental elevation, as those of the 
humble believer in Jesus. I pass by the worshippers 
of pleasure and of gain. I entreat you, compare the 
daily intellectual occupations of an habitually devout 
mam with even the investigations of the philosopher, 
th^esearches of the historian, or the calculations of 
the politician, and tell me which is most worthy the 
capacities of man. It was by habitually meditating 
upon the subjects which I have mentioned, that proph- 
ets and apostles, though unlearned and illiterate men, 
poured over the oracles which they delivered, the 
resplendent lustre of an unearthly eloquence. And 
thus the English Homer, drinking deeply from the 
sacred fountains, and fiUing his soul with the concep- 
tions of revelation, bore away the palm of genius from 
classic antiquity, and stands, confessed, the sublimest 



MINISTERIAL PIETY. 205 

of uninspired men. If, then, we desire to cultivate 
the faculties with which God has endowed us ; if we 
would gird ourselves for vigorous and successful men- 
tal exertion, while we bless the Father of our spirits 
who hath thus connected together our intellectual and 
moral improvement, let us give ourselves to the dili- 
gent study of the sacred Scriptures, and to high and 
intimate communion with the uncreated Holy One. 

But this intellect, in a minister of Christ, is to be 
applied to a particular purpose, the investigation of 
divine truth. His business is to teach men the will of 
God. That will is revealed in the holy Oracles j and 
it is to be known by diligently applying to the study 
of them, whatever of intellectual or moral power the 
man may possess. Let us, then, in the next place, 
inquire what assistance ardent piety will render him 
in the investigation of divine truth. 

II. The great obstacle to progress, in every de- 
partment of science, has always been the pride of the 
human intellect. In physics, when men, instead of 
inquiring what were the facts, were engrossed in the 
framing of theories, and the constructing of arguments 
a priori, the result was such as might have been ex- 
pected. Each succeeding age demolished the labors 
of its predecessor, and the last was as far off from truth 
as any that had gone before it. There was but one 
avenue to light, and this avenue having been closed 
up by the arrogance of man, the finest intellects of our 
race groped about, age after age, in darkness which 
might be felt. And, let it be ever remembered, that, 
from this thick darkness of ages, it was humility 
which first delivered us. When Philosophy, falsely 
18^ 



206 MINISTERIAL PIETY. 

SO called, would draw near unto Nature, not to hear 
what she taught, but to dictate to her what she ought 
to teach, Nature, enwrapping herself in the unearthly 
dignity of her own mysterious invisibility, sate afar 
off, in lofty, unbroken silence. But so soon as man 
approached, in childlike simplicity, and fell at her 
feet in the spirit of reverent attention, then, and not 
till then, did she put aside the darkness which sur- 
rounded her, and reveal those mysteries which had 
been hidden from the foundation of the world. And, 
since the commencement of the true philosophy, the 
progress of man in knowledge has been in the exact 
ratio of his unfeigned humility. That man is the 
soundest philosopher, who, with the most unpretending 
deference, is most patiently watching the phenomena 
about him, and who is most willing to confess his ig- 
norance, as soon as he has arrived at the limit where 
Nature spreads the veil over her processes, and where 
fact furnishes no further information. 

Thus also has it been in theology. The Bible is, 
in morals, what the visible and tangible world is in 
physics, a storehouse of ultimate facts. Upon the 
subjects of which it treats, there is not, nor without a 
new revelation can there be, any knowledge beyond 
or aside from what it teaches. And yet more ; to the 
men who have approached it in the lofty consciousness 
of their own wisdom, it has always remained, and the 
veracity of its Author is pledged that it ever shall re- 
main, a sealed book. The man may construct a 
system, and it may be ingenious, and learned, and 
able, and eloquent ; and he may show very clearly, 
at least to his disciples, what the Bible ought to say ; 



MINISTERIAL PIETY. 207 

nay, more, what, in his opinion, it must of necessity 
say, and he may persuade many a one that it hath 
said it. But all this while he hath heard nothing but 
the echo of his own voice ; the oracle itself hath not 
yet spoken. He hath not advanced a single hair's 
breadth in knowledge of the word of God } for 
God resisteth the proud, but showeth grace unto the 
humble. And that man is making the greatest progress 
in the knowledge of the Bible, who is humbly and pa- 
tiently applying his investigations to the law and to the 
testimony, firmly, and yet calmly resolved not to be- 
lieve any th-ng which it does not teach, and yet to 
believe all that it does teach, to the veriest jot, and to 
the veriest tittle. God himself hath promised that he 
will instruct such a man. The meek will He guide 
in judgment } the meek will He teach his way. 

Now, this very disposition, of so much importance 
in this sort of investigation, is precisely that which 
ardent piety implants in the bosom of the student. It 
fills him with an all-pervading conviction of the utter 
incomprehensibleness of the wisdom of God, and of 
the exceeding blindness of a creature of yesterday. 
It teaches him his entire inability to decide, a priori^ 
upon the manner in which the Deity shall exercise 
the high prerogative of manifesting his own perfections. 
He dares neither prescribe what God must reveal, 
nor what God must do. The only question is, what 
hath God said, and what hath God done ; and, this 
being answered, he knows of no question beyond it. 
When he approaches the oracle of God, it is to utter 
the awe-stricken supplication of the infant prophet, 
speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth. Now the ve- 



208 MINISTERIAL PIETY. 

racity of God is pledged, that he who thus looks to 
him for instruction, though a wayfaring man, and a 
fool, shall not err. Though the Lord be high, yet 
hath he respect unto the lowly ; but the proud he 
knoweth afar off. I thank thee, O Father, Lord of 
heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things 
from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them 
unto babes ; even so. Father, for so it seemeth good 
in thy sight. 

And here it would not be well to pass over the 
fact, that the New Testament has clearly revealed an 
intimate connexion which God has established be- 
tween practical obedience to the divine will, and 
theoretical knowledge of it. Christ has assured us, 
that moral light will be given to us, just in proportion 
as we improve the light which w^e enjoy. To him 
that hath, or that improveth that which he hath, shall 
be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him 
that hath not, shall be taken away even that which he 
seemeth to have. You see, then, that by virtue of 
this law of God's dispensation, the most religious man 
must be the most successful student. Whosoever 
will do his will, said the Saviour, he shall know of 
the doctrine. 

And, beside this, there is, accompanying high at- 
tainments in piety, a delicacy of moral tact, which is, 
in its very nature, one of the surest safeguards against 
error. The more perfectly a man's heart is in har- 
mony with the true spirit of the revelation, and the 
less there is about him which its lofty purity would 
condemn, the more readily will he seize upon its sense, 
amid all the learned variety of conflicting interpreta- 



MINISTERIAL PIETY. 209 

tions. The meaning which the holiness of its Author 
intended, the temper of hohness in the good man's 
heart intuitively discovers. And thus, other things 
being equal, nay, frequently when other things are 
not equal, the most devout man will be the best inter- 
preter. And thus do we find that error in theology 
has originated, not so much in weakness of the 
head, as in pravity of the heart. And thus, also, 
do we know, that many men, holding the noiseless 
tenor of their way in the uneducated walks of an un- 
registered and unenumerated ministry, destitute of the 
help of libraries, and ignorant of the name and of the 
being of commentators and scholiasts, and lexicograph- 
ers and interpreters, guided only by the dictates of 
common sense, illuminated by a sanctified conscience, 
are deeply acquainted with the revealed will of God, 
are mighty in bringing the truth to bear upon the con- 
sciences of men, and are abundantly successful in 
winning souls unto salvation. 

Again, it is of importance to remark, that every 
composition derives its form and pressure from the 
peculiar feeling with which the writer was at the mo- 
ment imbued. Upon a shade of meaning, which this 
peculiar feeling gives to a word, the very point of an 
illustration, or the gist of an argument, not unfrequently 
turns. Now, it is evident, that unless there be in the 
reader a sympathy with the writer, the finest passage 
may be unfelt and unintelligible. You all have heard 
of the mathematician, who, for want of this poetic 
sympathy, after reading the Paradise Lost, shut up 
the book, with the question, what does it prove ? 

Now, all this applies with peculiar emphasis to the 



210 MINISTERIAL PIETY. 

authors of the sacred Scriptures. No men ever wrote 
under the impulse of stronger excitement. Their 
souls were burning with love to God, and their imag- 
inations were exalted by supernatural conceptions of 
the ineffable glory. It is only in proportion as w^e 
sympathize with their moral feeling, that we shall enter 
into the spirit of the oracles which they have delivered. 
To illustrate this by a single case, you may form some 
conception of the intensity of feeling, and of the fullness 
of blessing, with which such a man as David would 
utter the exclamation, O Lord, thou art my God ! 
Now, you can easily perceive that a whole psalm, or 
a whole passage, might derive its meaning and signifi- 
cancy, from the overwhelming gratitude with which 
he appropriated Jehovah to himself, as his God. To 
an undevout man, you see, at once, how all that was 
peculiar to the sentiment would be unintelligible. 
And thus it is evident, that just as we approach to the 
standard of the writers' piety, shall w^e comprehend 
the scope of their reasonings, and feel the pertinency 
of their exhortations. 

1 cannot dismiss this branch of the subject, without 
adverting to one other topic of yet deeper interest. 
You know that before our Saviour ascended, he 
promised to send the Holy Spirit to dwell with his 
disciples, and bring all things to their remembrance. 
And we believe, that this same Holy Spirit, by whose 
teachings the men of God wrote, is, though in a less 
degree, granted to those who study the Bible with 
humility and prayer, to enlighten their understandings, 
to elevate their affections, and to impress its sacred 
truths upon their will, and upon their conscience. 



MINISTERIAL PIETY. 211 

And this assistance is niost abundantly granted to the 
most holy men. Let us, then, without ceasing, lift up 
our hearts to that Spirit, *' who, before all temples, 
doth prefer the upright heart and pure ; that what in 
us is dark, he would illumine, what is low, he would 
raise and support ;" or, in the language of that prayer, 
which the Spirit himself indited, let us bow our knees 
unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom 
the whole family in heaven and earth is named ; that 
he would grant us, according to the riches of his glory, 
to be strengthed with might by his Spirit in the inner 
man ; that Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith ; 
that we, being rooted and grounded in love, may be 
able, w^ith all saints, to comprehend what is the length, 
and breadth, and depth, and height, and to know the 
love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that we may 
be filled with all the fullness of God. 

But, suj)posing this knowledge to be acquired, the 
next duty of a minister is, to prepare in his closet to 
bring it to bear upon the consciences of men. Let 
us, in the last place, inquire, what assistance ardent 
piety will afford him, in the performance of this part 
of his labor. 

in. The advantages of ardent piety may be shown, 
in this respect, first, in the variety of illustration with 
which it furnishes a preacher. The mind of man, by 
the principles of its constitution, associates every thing 
with that which occupies the place of its master passion. 
It was said by Johnson, concerning the author of the 
Seasons, *' that man could not see those two candles 
burning, without combining them with a poetic image." 
And it is to tliis power of apt analogy, this facility of 



212 MINISTERIAL PIETY. 

associating the idea which it would convey, with some- 
thing grand or beautiful in nature, or in sentiment, that 
poetry owes its fascination, and eloquence its effect. 
And thus is it with him who would be a persuasive 
preacher of the Gospel. He must catch the fleeting 
manners as they rise, and make even the airy nothings, 
with which men trifle, teach them a lesson of instruc- 
tion. He must seize upon the innumerable analogies 
which subsist between the various departments of the 
divine government, and, through this attractive medium, 
convey to the heart, and impress upon the conscience, 
the truths which shall make men wise unto salvation. 

And this power, also, will high attainments in piety 
confer upon a minister. The relations between God 
and man being the continual subject of his meditation, 
he will associate them with every thing which he sees 
in the universe around him. The beautiful and the 
terrific in nature, the manners of men, the relations of 
society, the dispensations of Providence, all will furnish 
him with some illustration in morals, some vehicle by 
which he may convey truth to the consciences of men. 

Again, elevated attainments in piety invest a man 
with a power over the conscience, which nothing else 
can confer. 

As in water, face answereth to face, so the heart of 
man to man. He who sees moral relations clearly, 
can illustrate them clearly, and may make men to un- 
derstand them. If, however, he possess nothing else 
than clearness of understanding, he will affect nothing 
but their understanding. They w^ill hear, and see, 
but they will not feel. He must deeply feel what he 
inculcates, or he will not make them feel it. What ! 



MINISTERIAL PIETY. 213 

Gan a man, who is himself frequently evercome with 
temptation, urge upon others the importance of holi- 
ness? Can he, who has but slight and imperfect 
views of the heinousness of sin, make other men feel 
the plague of their own hearts ? Can he, whose 
thoughts are mostly upon the things of time, arouse 
other men to think upon the things of eternity ? No, 
brethren, out of the abundance of the heart the mouth 
speaketh. Unless our own consciences be habitually 
awake, we cannot expect to arouse the consciences of 
others. 

Here, then, I fear, my brethren, is one reason why 
our ministrations produce so little effect upon others. 
It is because we feel these ministrations so feebly our- 
selves. Were we more frequently in the spirit of 
Isaiah, when he saw the Lord upon a throne, high and 
lifted up, and fell prostrate before the Holy One, our 
exhortations would not fall powerless from our lips, 
nor our hearers go away thoughtless, when we told 
them of the terrors of the judgment seat of Christ. 
Our only help is in growing better ; in striving to im- 
press a deeper conviction of the truth upon our own 
consciences, and to obtain a greater conformity to the 
Jaw of God in our own hearts. Just in proportion as 
we are delivered from the power of sin, shall we see 
its utter odiousness. Just in proportion as w^e are in- 
flamed with love to God, shall we see the justice of 
his requirements, and with clearness and pungency 
press them home upon the moral sense of man. 

And, lastly, ardent piety conduces to ministerial 
effect, by the desire of effect which it inspires. 

In morals, as in intellect, will is power. Determi- 
19 



214 MINISTERIAL PIETY. 

nation supplies the means for carrying itself forward 
into result. Other things being equal, that man will 
most certainly convince us, who is most desirous to 
convince us. 

Now, this desire of effect, nothing but ardent piety 
will supply. Sectarian zeal will not do it 3 the love 
of popularity will not do it; the desire of professional 
emolument will not do it ; or, should any of them 
commence, none of them can sustain it. A thousand 
circumstances may baffle expectation, or disappoint 
hope, and leave the man motiveless and motionless, 
a burden to the ministry, and the reproach of his 
profession. 

He must have, what nothing but ardent piety will 
give him, an intense desire for the salvation of souls. 
Let him be warmed to ecstacy with the love of God ; 
let his home be in eternity ; let the full weight of 
Heaven be enjoyed, and hell to be endured, rest upon 
him ; let him estimate the full value of a soul, and 
habitually remember that souls are committed to his 
charge, and he cannot but speak with effect. Every 
thing about him will bear the impression of religion. 
He will be at no loss to know the times and occasions 
for inculcating his message. His hearers will catch 
the temper with which he is imbued. God will de- 
scend with the influences of his Spirit. Both minister 
and people will be men of prayer, and full of the Holy 
Ghost; and much people will be added to the Lord. 

Two very brief reflections will complete this dis- 
course. 

1st. I surely need not say what is the instruction 
which we, who minister at the altar, should derive 



MINISTERIAL PIETY. 215 

from this subject. It teaches us that we, whose busi- 
ness is the moral improvement of man, should make 
our own moral improvement the first, pre-eminently 
the first, object of our attention. While we seek for 
the knowledge which this world can give, and seek 
for it earnestly and industriously, let us not, in our 
love for learning, mistake the means for the end. Let 
us not, while we are burnishing the weapon, palsy the 
arm by which it is to be wielded. Let us seek to be 
examples, principally in penitence, in faith, in self- 
denial, in humility, in heavenly mindedness. These, 
if we have nothing else, will make us ministers who 
-will be approved of God. Without these, all other 
preparation will be useless. And these are the attri- 
butes which will, most surely, give us that success 
which we desire ; they will make us able ministers of 
the New Testament, not of the word but of the Spirit. 
2d. To all of us the subject presents another lesson 
of instruction. It teaches us what we should most 
earnestly desire, and most devoutly pray for, on behalf 
of the ministers of the Cross. It is that they may be 
men of prayer, and full of the Holy Ghost. If they 
be such men, the church of God will prosper, whatever 
may betide her. If they be not, there may be the 
form of godliness, there may be the splendour of rank, 
and the pride of influence, and the parade of learning ; 
but Ichabod is written on the gates of our Zion, for 
the glory is departed. Her moral power exists not. 
Let us, then, without ceasing, pray that the Holy Spirit 
may be poured out abundantly on the ministers of re- 
ligion ; that they may be very holy men ; that God 



216 MINISTERIAL PIETY. 

would clothe his priests with salvation ; that his saints 
may shout aloud for joy. 

The discussion of the subject is finished. I trust, 
however, that you will bear with me, while I allude, 
very briefly, to the circumstances under which we are 
this evening assembled. 

This occasion is, in a degree unusual even to such 
services, interesting to myself. On this spot I first 
heard proclaimed the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My 
parents are among the earliest members of this church. 
The first minister whom I remember, was the imme- 
diate predecessor of the present pastor of this parent 
church, and the father of the candidate for the office 
of the ministry in that which has just been constituted. 
Many years have elapsed since I waited upon the in- 
structions of that venerable man. Since then, I have 
seen many meek, many holy, many humble, many 
able, many peace-making, ministers of the New Tes- 
tament, — but I have yet seen no one that has remind- 
ed me of John Williams. 

To every one of you is this a moment of thrilling 
interest. This ancient church, and her beloved pastor, 
are about to part with many of their brethren, endeared 
to them by every tie of Christian affection. Already 
has the parting hand been given ; and now, for the 
first time, do you recognise the fact, that you are not, 
in all respects, one. You have, this evening, united 
in setting over those who leave you, as their pastor, a 
brother beloved both for his own, and for his father's 
sake. It is not division. It is not separation. It is 
only impressing your own image again upon another 
portion of the Christian church, that they may, in 



MINISTERIAL PIETY. 217 

another place, more brightly show forth the praises of 
Him who hath called them. 

To this newly constituted church, and the pastor 
who is now to be set over them in the Lord, this is 
also an occasion of peculiar interest. You go, breth- 
ren, to raise the standard of the Cross in another part 
of this city. The tears, the hopes, the prayers of 
your brethren, go with you. Go, and make known to 
your dying fellow men, Jesus Christ, and him cruci- 
fied. Go, relying on his Holy Spirit, to make that 
message effectual to the conversion of sinners, and the 
edification of saints. Go, and cultivate the meekness, 
the charity, the benevolence, the self-denial, the purity 
of the blessed Gospel, and the Saviour himself shall 
go with you. The eyes of your brethren, of the 
churches, of the Redeemer, are upon you. See that 
ye walk worthy of the vocation with which ye are 
called, unto all well pleasing. And now, may the 
God of peace, that brought again from the dead our 
Lord Jesus Christ, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 
through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make 
you perfect in every good work, to do his will, work- 
ing in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, 
through Christ Jesus, to. whom be glory for ever and 
ever. Amen.. 



19^ 



ABUSE OF THE IMAGINATION. 



JEREMIAH IV. 14. 

HOW LONG SHALL THY VAI^' THOUGHTS LODGE WITHIN 
THEE ? 

Imagination is the faculty by which we combine 
the ideas which we have ah'eady acquired. As the 
memory retains the various images of beauty, or 
grandeur, or desirableness, w^hich the eye hath seen, 
or the ear heard, so the imagination associates them 
with aught to which we have attached the ideas of love- 
liness, or sublimity, or happiness. By means of it, the 
orator clothes his argument in all the drapery of elo- 
quence ; and the poet, roaming from earth to heaven, 
surrounds the commonest thoughts with new and irre- 
sistible attraction, and gives to airy nothings a local 
habitation and a name. Nay more, the noblest exer- 
tions of this faculty are seen in the writings of those 
men, who spake as they were moved by the Holy 
Ghost. Touched by fire from the altar, the imagina- 
tion of Job and of David, of Isaiah and of St. John 
kindled into unearthly effulgence. Their conceptions 



THE IMAGINATION. 219 

were exalted to unapproachable grandeur, and their 
very language bore witness to the God who spake by 
them. 

But not to orators, and poets, and prophets, and 
apostles, are the workings of this faculty confined. It 
happens that there are various ideas of wealth, and 
power, and influence, and respectability, and ease, and 
leisure, which exercise over man a most bewitching 
fascination. And there is a being, above all others, 
with whom he desires that all these ideas should be 
associated. I surely need not tell you that this being 
is every man's own individual self. Now as it is much 
easier to imagine ourselves in the quiet possession of 
all that is desirable, than it is to put forth the labor 
and endure the self-denial necessary for the attaining 
of it, it comes to pass that tlie life of most men is 
passed in an ideal world, in thinking about what they 
are going to be, and what they are going to do, or 
upon what, under circumstances different from the 
present, they assuredly would be and assuredly would 
do. It is the sin of our nature. It is the folly and 
the crime not of one man, but of all men, of the young 
and the old, the learned and the ignorant, the infant 
and the grandsire ; and, therefore, well might the 
prophet address not only to the Jews of his own age, 
but also to every one of us to-day, the despairing 
question in the text, How long shall thy vain thoughts 
lodge within thee ? 

If we would be sensible how general is the applica- 
tion of this remonstrance, we have only to turn over a 
few pages in the book of our own history, or reflect 
at the present moment upon the movements within our 



220 THE ABUSE OP 

own bosoms, or observe even with candor the thoughts 
and the actions of others. Every thing will teach us 
how universal is the prevalence of this moral disease. 
Every thing will lead us to that appropriate but most 
solemn reflection of the psalmist, Surely every man 
walketh in a vain show ; surely they are disquieted in 
vain. It will be well if with him we are brought to 
the pious conclusion, Now, Lord, what wait I for? my 
hope is in thee. 

Infancy hath not ceased, before the restless workings 
of this faculty are seen in all their mischievous devel- 
opment. Observe your own little girl in the nursery, 
surrounded by her toys and her dolls. Mark how her 
step, though tottering, hath learned the air of a mistress, 
and how that tongue, yet lisping, hath caught the ac- 
cent of command. Hearken to her dialogue with her 
mute wooden companion, and see how she rejoices in 
her conscious superiority. When her mind has be- 
come enkindled with the visions of its own fancy, you 
may observe how she is dressing up some gay scene 
of future happiness, in which she is to act by far the 
most conspicuous part. And, O now, were she a 
little older, or a little taller, or had one other dress, or 
one more beautiful toy, how loftily would she then 
carry herself, and how full would be the cup of her 
joy ! And if she muse yet farther into futurity, she 
is thinking about houses, and wealth, and domestics, 
and equipages, and she is sagely conjecturing how 
she will act when all these things are hers. Thus is 
her soul just entered upon being, bewildered in its 
own deceivings, and feeding its own vanity with tho- 
foolish fictions of an infantile imagination. 



THE IMAGINATION. 221 

Or you may look upon yon little boy, sauntering 
along in his errand, gazing at every show window, 
and admiring every passing equipage, and wondering 
at every dwelling of opulence and splendor which he 
beholds, and which seems to him inhabited by beings 
with whom he w^ould hardly dare to speak. What 
is it that occupies his thoughts and retards his steps, as 
he slowly moves on in his appointed duty? Ah! he 
is thinking what he would do, were he as strong as 
Samson, or were his arm as mighty as the giant's of 
whom he has read in his story book. If this were 
the case, how fearlessly would he move through these 
streets by day, yes and by night too, and how should 
all the men and the boys tremble at his frown. Or it 
may be, he is thinking what he would do if he were 
rich. If he should now find a purse of gold, or if in 
some of his rambles he should stumble, as some one, 
of whom he has read, did once stumble, upon a mine 
of silver or a heap of diamonds; how would he then 
put to shame all the magnificence which he here 
beholds about him ! O if this were once to happen, 
how much richer should be his house, how much more 
splendid his equipage, how much more numerous his 
retinue, and how would he stupify all the boys and all 
the men of his acquaintance with his gorgeous exhi- 
bitions of incalculable wealth ! Or, if the sound of 
martial music falls upon his ear, and a military show 
passes before him, another form of power is added to 
the list of his many accomplishments. He is thinking 
how he would order these men, were he only their 
captain, and how promptly these thousands should move 
at his well pronounced word of uncontrollable command. 



222 THE ABUSE OF 

Thus early do we become the slaves of our own 
imaginations. So soon do we learn to forget the 
present and the actual, and to meditate only upon the 
doubtful and the impossible. Instead of thinking what 
he is, he is thinking of what he might be. O if he 
were this, or ?/he were that; and thus are the intel- 
lects of the very infant bewildered and beclouded in 
this misty atmosphere of all-pervading ifs. 

You may smile at this picture. Or perhaps you 
blush to think how vain were the imaginations which 
lodged within you, some ten, or twenty, or thirty years 
since. But let us remember, that this is only one leaf 
taken from the book of human nature ; and that all 
the rest present only the same impression upon the 
same materials ; they exhibit only countless repetitions 
of the same letters, though differently arranged, and 
perhaps in the latter part of the volume, less easily 
understood. 

These same children, who have been thus led away 
by the deceitful imaginations of infancy, only grow up 
toriperyears,tohave the same deceptions repeated upon 
them in other and more melancholy forms. They are 
still children, though of a larger bulk, and a more ex- 
tended observation. ('What is it that fills the sleeping, 
aye, and the waking dreams of the young man, who, hav- 
ing collected all his means and ventured them all in his 
first experiment, is beginning to push his way through 
the world unassisted and alone ? What is it that oc- 
cupies his solitary musings, as soon as the pressure of 
business is suspended, and the current of his thoughts 
is suffered to move onward in its accustomed channels ? 
Is he now thinking of what is around him ? Is he 



THE lilAGIXATIOX. 2:23 

reflecting upon his own actual, matter of fact condition, 
upon what he now is, and what doth in reahty become 
him? Is he looking into his own bosom, with the 
humble and homely endeavor to be acquainted with 
that being, within him, whom he seems to love so well, 
but of whom it must be confessed he hath as yet ob- 
tained so very scanty a know^ledge ? Is he thinking 
of his defects, and how they may be corrected ; or 
of his ignorance, and how it may be dispelled ? And 
above all, is this immortal being reflecting that he has 
a soul, which must be saved or lost ; a soul that must 
be pardoned, here on earth, or dwell hereafter in 
misery u»mterable and forever? Is he putting home 
to himself the question. How shall I please that infinite 
Being in whose hands I now am and I ever after shall 
be ; and how shall I obtain an interest in the mercy of 
that Saviour who died to redeem me ? Ah no ! he is 
thinking of none of this. The present, the certain, 
the inevitable, are all too tame to interest him. The 
future, the doubtful, the improbable, can alone satisfy 
the greedy appetite of his diseased imagination. He 
is musing upon the splendors which one day are to 
encircle his name, in the walks of mercantile life. 
His soul is roaming abroad over the wide and invisible 
future, and there she seems to behold visions of opu- 
lence, and luxury, and reputation, and power, glorious 
as aught that the heart of man can wish for. He 
kindles with the vividness of his own fancies. He 
beholds his name respected in every country, his ships 
floating on every sea, and the control of the market 
vested in his signature. Or has he entered upon a 
profession. The slow steps by which other men have 



224 THE ABUSE OF 

arisen, he overleaps at once. Juries hang upon his 
lips, courts bow to his decisions, and a listening senate 
is wielded at his will. O if this were only so, shauld 
he thus succeed, he surprises himself with thinking 
how triumphantly he would surprise the world. And 
thus it happens, that he who hath spent months of his 
life in meditating how he would act, and w^iat he 
would do, under circumstances in which neither he 
nor any other man ever was, or ever will be placed, 
has never spent a single hour in reflecting what he is, 
where he is going, what he ought to do, for this pres- 
ent which he sees, or for that infinite of future, which 
truly as God lives he most assuredly shall see. 

Now to all these dreamers of gay dreams, we would 
make one or two very plain remarks. It is most 
manifest that you are spending your time to no manner 
of purpose. Common sense will inform you that 
these circumstances, for which you are making so 
ample an imaginary preparation, never w^ill occur. In 
the mean time, what you ought to do is neglected and 
forgotten. The very energies, without the aid of 
which, in this busy, bustling world, you never can 
succeed, are frittered away and wasted upon that 
Vv'hich can contribute nothing whatever to your suc- 
cess. You would surely think that man a lunatic, who 
should spend his time in reflecting what he would do 
if he inhabited the moon. Are there not very many 
just such lunatics every where about us ? 

But suppose that at some future time, your imagi- 
nations should, by some strange coincidence, become 
facts. Of what use, I pray you, would then be all 
your present dreams about them. You remember 



THE IMAGINATION. 225 

how useless were the anticipations of your childhood, 
concerning the situation which you now occupy. Such 
are your present anticipations concerning all that is to 
come. The way in which to be qualified for a differ- 
ent situation, is to fill with reputation that in which 
you are. It is surely better for a man to spend one 
hour in preparing for the duties of to-day, than to 
spend a month in dreaming how be will act ten years 
hence, in circumstances under which neither he nor 
any other man ever will be placed. 

And again, this very exercise of the imagination, 
besides being thus useless, is the cause and the sure 
precursor of failure. It v/astes those energies which 
cannot be spared. It does more. The mind comes 
back vitiated from these gay visions, and all her calcu- 
lations respecting the present are tinged with their col- 
oring of falsehood. This is, after all, a matter-of-fact 
world ; and you can succeed in it only by being a 
matter-of-fact man. If you be any thing else, it will 
move on upon principles diametrically the reverse of 
yours ; and time will assuredly stamp upon all your 
projects, the mark of utter and helpless disappointment. 
Happy will it be if, somewhere in that vast space 
which intervenes between your high raised hopes, and 
the dull, plain reality, you do not fall into the gulf of 
remediless and inextricable bankruptcy. And still 
happier will it be, if these gay visions do not dance 
before you until they be rebuked away by the solemn 
realities of your last half hour, and there remain before 
you nothing but the dread prospect of the judgment 
seat of Christ, a Saviour neglected, and an undone 
eternity. 

/ 20 

/ 



226 THE ABUSE OF 

Age, I know, has some power to take off the glare 
from these visions of the fancy. Disappointment and 
affliction do, in some degree, discover to our view the 
real character of the world, at least in so far as it 
respects ourselves. The man becomes at last con- 
vinced that he was not designed for those splendid 
destinies which he had marked out for himself, and 
settles down in tolerable contentment, to look in his 
own case for what is practicable. But have vain 
thoughts yet ceased to lodge within him ? Ah no ! 
He is only transferring to his children his claim to that 
heritage, which he had once hoped to enter upon him- 
self. He is now building visionary fabrics for the son 
that is to come after him. Though he have failed, 
yet his son may surely succeed. Though circumstan- 
ces of education or of connexions did not favor him, 
they may yet favor his offspring. Though behave 
not yet reached the height to which he aspired, yet 
his son may reach it. by rising upon his shoulders. 
Though he be not the pinnacle of the family edifice, 
it will be something at least to have been the founda- 
tion stone. And then in his solitary musings he pur- 
sues the boy of his hopes through all the changes of 
education, of entrance upon business, and of profes- 
sional success, until, full of his own conceptions, and 
rejoicing in what is to be some twenty years hence, the 
exulting parent feels already the conscious pride which 
shall dilate his bosom, when, pointing to the man whom 
all men admire, he shall say to the passer by, that is 
my son. Now what is deplorable in all this is, that 
these splendid anticipations are sowing the seeds of 
their own discomfiture. For it is surelv natural to 



THE IMAGINATION. 227 

suppose, that the child for whom all these unusual 
destinies are in reserve, needs not the ceaseless watch- 
ing over, nor the multiplied restraints under w^hich 
other men's children must of course be brought up. 
This parent hath never reflected that that child hath 
within him many an evil propensity, which if uncor- 
rected will assuredly accomplish his ruin. He hath 
never yet learned, in daily prayer, to commend the 
temporal interests of that child to the God who can 
alone fulfil his desires. Still less hath he ever taught 
that child the way of salvation, or prayed that God 
would make him a pious man, and prepare them both 
for that day when they shall both stand before the 
judgment seat of Christ. Happy will it be, if the 
future history of that child, the defects of whose edu- 
cation these very visions have fostered, do not reveal 
a tale of utter dissoluteness ; yes ! happy will it be, 
if this very idol do not bring down the gray hairs of 
its doting parent with sorrow to the grave. 

Thus do we with agonizing grasp cling not to the 
realities of life, but to its unsubstantial phantasies. 
Thus is it that, when the phantasies of our own age 
have vanished away, we grasp after those of the gen- 
eration that is to come after us. Thus is it that these 
gay visions not only shut out from our view the truth, 
and lead to hopeless disappointment in the life that 
now is, they also shut out the truth, and plunge us 
in remediless disappointment for the world that is to 
come. 

ir. This leads us to remark, that from this very 
principle many of our moral delusions derive their 
danger and their efficacy. 



228 THE ABUSE OF 

There are certain facts respecting the spirit that is 
within us, and certain doctrines concerning the world 
which that spirit will very soon enter, which among 
men who believe the Bible are very universally re- 
ceived. It is, for instance, very generally believed 
that the soul of man is immortal ; that it will enter at 
death upon a mode of being very different from the 
present ; that man is a sinner ; that that other will be 
a world of rewards and punishments 5 that we must 
all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, to be 
judged according to the deeds of the body ; that there 
will be then a separation between the countless myriads 
of our race, and thatthe one part will go away into ever- 
lasting life, and the other part into everlasting punish- 
ment; and that from the decision of that day there shall 
be no appeal forever. Now it is not in the power 
of amusement, or business, or ambition, entirely to 
exclude these overwhelming ideas from the mind of 
man. There are moments when even the gayest of 
the gay are at a stand, when pleasure has satiated, 
when the voice of sensibility is unmusical, when the 
soul looks loathingly over all the allurements of fashion, 
and of sense, and in indignant sadness turns back upon 
her thoughtless murderer, and asks, Is this all for 
which the eternal God hath made me ? Conscience 
at such a moment will also regain a transitory power, 
and she will ask, whether there may not be something 
sinful as well as weak in having lived in vain ; and 
then there will arise the appalling idea of standing 
without a lineament of the character of Heaven upon 
her, before the Judge as well as the Father of this 
whole universe. Every thing teaches him that some 



THE IMAGINATION. 229 

moral transformation must be effected before a sinner 
can endure the scrutiny of that meeting in peace. Con- 
science, reason, and revelation, conspire in declaring, 
Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom 
of God ', and if any man be a Christian, there is a new 
creation. Every thing urges him to secure the 
crown of eternal life, now while it is the accepted 
time, now while it is the day of salvation. The mon- 
itory voice from without and from within, saith unto 
him, Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy 
might ; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge 
in the grave. 

And when a man's conscience hath been thus by 
the mercy of God awakened, what, I pray you, doth 
he do ? Do you find him inquiring of his religious 
teacher. What must I do to be saved ? Do you see 
him at once employed in honest, diligent and sol- 
emn inquiry into the moral condition of his own heart, 
and the nature of those obligations which exist between 
him and his Maker ? Do you find him with his Bible 
in his closet, holding communion with his God ? O 
no ! with all the realities of death and judgment before 
him, you cannot persuade him to do that, which it is 
his indispensable duty to do, to-day. No, he is think- 
ing how surely he will give to these subjects their full 
share of attention at some day which he is yet to see, 
or when the sickness unto death hath laid its hand 
upon him ; or he is thinking what he would do if his 
affairs were differently arranged. If he were a little 
younger, or a little older, a little richer, or a little 
more at leisure, or had somewhat different feelings 
upon the subject, he would then surmount every ob- 
20^ 



230 THE ABUSE OF 

stacle, and lay hold upon everlasting life. Satisfied 
with the goodness of his resolution, he turns again to 
the vanities of life, and conscience again slumbers. 
Again he is aroused, and again he is beguiled by the 
visions of to-morrow. At length, death steps in between 
this man and his to-morrow, and he passes in an instant 
from a world of f^incy to an eternity of fact. 

And if, through the goodness of God, such a man 
should become permanently interested on the subject 
of his eternal welfare, and anxious above all things to 
be reconciled' unto God, it will be strange if this same 
habit do not still pursue him. Jesus Christ is saying 
to such an one. Come unto me, all ye that are weary 
and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. If any 
man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. For as 
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so was 
the Son of Man lifted up, that whosoever believeth on 
him should not perish, but have everlasting life. But 
instead of doing this, he is thinking perhaps how he 
would do it if the circumstances of his former life had 
been different, if he had been more religiously edu- 
cated, or if he had been less so, or if these ideas had 
been impressed upon him more vividly, or at some 
other period of his Hfe. If in town, he would be in 
the country ; if in the country, he would be in town ; 
for a wounded spirit who can bear ? He would be any 
where, he would be every where, but just with his 
own heart, and doing the very thing which God this 
present moment requires him to do. Thus he may 
be kept, month after month, from the peace which piety 
sheds abroad in the soul, in consequence of this long es- 
tablished habit of looking away from his own heart,instead 



THE IMAGINATION. 231 

of looking into it. And that peace which passeth un- 
derstanding, he never will enjoy, until, from the inmost 
recesses of a contrite heart, he shall say, in present, 
humble sincerity, with a penitent of other days, Lord, 
what wilt thou have me to do ? 

Nor are the men among us, who profess to be 
religious, exempted from the deserved application of 
the question of the text. The Bible is the statute 
book of Jehovah. In it he teaches us by precept and 
by example, how he would have us live. Now he 
who professes religion, declares that he believes all this, 
and he promises that he will obey it. It might then 
surely be expected that such a man would be found 
diligently studying the book, and daily laboring to 
bring every thought and word and action into con- 
formity to it. It might surely be expected, that in 
the lives of such men we should see the habitual ex- 
emplification of that humility, and charity, and self- 
denial, and benevolence, and forbearance, and heavenly 
mindedness, which that book inculcates, and without 
which it assures us that we cannot be saved. But 
do we see all this ? Alas ! I fear that among many 
pmfessors of every name, real, actual religion is very 
much a thing that is yet to he. Instead of being de- 
vout and practically pious men, under the circum- 
stances in which they are, they are thinking how 
devout and pious they would be under circumstances 
exceedingly dissimilar. If they were older, or if they 
were younger, if they were married, or if they were 
single, if the mechanic were a merchant, or the mer- 
chant a mechanic, or if either were in a profes- 
sion, or rich, or at leisure, how zealously would they 



232 THE ABUSE OF 

labor, and how holily would they live. Thus the time 
which is wasted in thinking how well they would live 
in another station, is sufficient, if well employed, to 
ensure their living well in their ow^n. Nor is this all ; 
we fear that many a man is judging of his religious 
character not by what it is, but by what, under other 
circumstances, he persuades himself that it w^ould be. 
Here there is a danger lest the mistake be fatal. God 
will judge him according to what he hath clone, and 
not according to what he hath not done, hut only 
thought of, iMany will say unto me, at that day. Lord, 
Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy 
name done many wonderful works, to whom I w^ill 
say, I never knew you ; depart from me, ye that work 
iniquity. 

And now, I pray you, is it not mournful that so 
much of this short life, a life on which depends all 
that is momentous in eternity, should thus be spent in 
an imaginary, unreal, and fictitious world. It were 
surely bad enough for an immortal being to rivet his 
affections, and consume his energies upon a world that 
now is. But is it not passing folly to rivet them upon 
a world that is not, and that never will be ? Yet such 
is the folly of our nature ! You see the men around 
you ; alas ! I fear those men are your very selves, 
preparing for ev^ents which shall never happen, rejoic- 
ing in prospects which you w^ill never see, triumphing 
over dangers w^iich you will never meet, and laying 
to your souls the flattering unction of moral approba- 
tion for acting as you never did act, and as God 
knoweth, that were it in your power you never would 
act. And all this is going on, w^hile w^hat is present 



TPIE IMAGINATION. 233 

and actual is forgotten, and what is immediate, urgent 
duty, of course is left forever undone. And yet more ; 
what is uncertain of the future seems to attract you 
the most strongly, nay its very uncertainty, and its very 
worthlessness seem to make you cleave to it the closer. 
What God hath said of the future is most assuredly 
true; but from the disclosures which he hath made you 
resolutely turn away, and choose rather to wander 
among the baseless visions of your own distempered 
fancy. 

And now, in conclusion, allow me to suggest a few 
considerations in addition to what has been said, to 
persuade you to restrain the exercise, and control the 
excesses of this much abused faculty. 

1. It is wasting timej the most inestimable treasure 
that God has given you. It is so wasting it as to ren- 
der you utterly unprepared for all that is before you. 
What wbuld you think of the man who spent whole 
days in dreaming, or in drunkenness? And what 
ought we to think of him, who spends his days and 
nights in musing over scenes of unreal and impossible 
existence, and gazing upon the empty creations of a 
diseased imagination ? 

2. It is at variance with the first principles of 
Jehovah's government. The future is among those 
secret things which belong unto God. To dream 
about it as we do, is to intrude into things which we 
have not seen, being vainly puffed up with our fleshly 
mind. The language of Scripture to each one of us 
is, Do thy duty to-day, and Providence will take 
thought for the future. We exactly reverse it. We 
neglect our duty to-day, and take upon ourselves 



234 THE ABUSE OF 

the charge of the future. We let go that which He 
hath placed in our power, and grasp after that which 
he hath not committed even to the angels of heaven. 
We thus wither at the root the virtues of faith, and 
obedience, and submission, and foster the vices of 
unbelief, of pride, and of discontent, of arrogance, 
and presumption. We place ourselves in that attitude 
on which God hath ever frowned ; for God resisteth 
the proud, but showeth grace unto the humble. 

3. The habit of which we have spoken, clothes 
the world with borrowed fascinations, and teaches it 
with more certainty to delude us. The world as it 
really is, is intended to read to us many an instructive 
lesson, and to impress most deeply every sentiment 
of revelation. It is in fact a world of vicissitude, of 
trial, of sorrow, of much and of frequent affliction. A 
world in which " Death reigns^^^ must surely be all 
this. God made it so, that we might aspire higher. 
He has written upon it in legible characters, Arise and 
depart, for this is not your rest, because it is polluted. 
Now against all this lesson we are shutting our eyes, 
and closing our ears. Inasmuch as he has made the 
real w^orld such as it is, we are determined to have 
another world of our own creation, where his hand is 
not seen, and where his voice is not heard, and on 
which his lessons are not inscribed. Thus do we 
make good the truth of that saying, Light is come 
into the world, and ye have loved darkness rather than 
light. Thus are ye giving to the world, already too 
strong for you, additional power, power which God nev- 
er gave it ; and in despite of Providence, in despite of 
revelation, are ye rivetting those chains which it hath cast 



THE IMAGINATION. 235 

around you, and whilst every moment drawing nearer 
to the judgment seat, are rendering your own condem- 
nation yet more fearfully inevitable. 

Finally. The Bible is God's statute book, and he 
surely meant it to be obeyed, and he hath enforced the 
obedience to it by most fearful and inevitable sanctions. 
And if we do not obey it, it matters not how we 
account for that disobedience. Whether we have 
walked in the ways of profligacy, or worshipped at the 
shrine of pleasure, or have dreamed away our lives in 
promises of amendment, the fact remains unaltered, that 
we have been disobedient, and we shall meet the doom 
of that servant, who knew his Lord's will and did it 
not. And here there is not a moment to be lost. 
Death is at the door, and as the tree falleth so it shall lie. 
Let us then in manners and in morals, obey to-day 
the voice of Providence and of God. Let us seek 
first the kingdom of God. Let the wicked now for- 
sake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, 
and turn unto the Lord, instead of promising to do so. 
Behold now is the accepted time, now^ and not to- 
morrow^ is the day of salvation. Amen. 



MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 



JOB XXIX. 11, 12, 13. 

WHEN THE EAR HEARD ME, THE>- IT BLESSED ME; AND 
WHEN THE EYE. SAW ME, THEN IT BORE WITNESS UNTO 
me; BECAUSE I DELIVERED THE POOR WHEN HE CRIED, 
THE FATHERLESS, AND HIM THAT UaD NONE TO HELP 
HIM. THE BLESSING OF HIM THAT WAS READY TO PERISH 
CAME UPON ME, AND I CAUSED THE WIDOV.'s HEART TO 
SINO FOR JOY. 

Vv'e have assembled, this evening, my brethren, to 
discharge one of the most dehghtiul duties of our holy 
rehgion. The stern obHgations of truth and of justice, 
not unfrequently compel us to inflict additional pain 
upon an already unhappy fellow mortal. Not so the re- 
quirements of charity. While obeying her commands, 
we are in the very act rewarded. We diffuse unmin- 
gled happiness among the recipients of our benevolence; 
and that happiness is reflected back again upon us at 
every exhibition of the bhss which we have created, 
or of the gratitude which we have deserved. - 

Not only is this a most pleasing, it is also a most 
solemn duty. We have met together, this evening, 
to render unto God an account of our stewardship. 
We are in the presence of Him who hath said. Thou 



MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 237 

shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Each one of us 
will have an opportunity of declaring, and each one 
of us will declare, what respect he hath to this com- 
mandment, by which he must be judged. A record 
of this evening's transactions will be made concerning 
every one of us, and we must individually meet it, at 
that day, when the friend of the friendless shall de- 
scend in flaming fire to judge every man according to 
his works. 

In view of these considerations, I am fully aware, 
that I might properly set before you the bearings which 
this evening's decision will have upon your eternal 
destiny. I might assure you, that God will most righ- 
teously inquire into the use that you have made of the 
talent which he has given you, and I might illustrate 
how he will hold you strictly responsible both for the 
happiness which you might have produced, and the evil 
which you might have prevented. I mightset before you 
the danger of riches, and show you in how many ways 
they become the obstacles to our salvation, and furnish 
at once the instrument of our destruction, and the evi- 
dence that it has been accomplished. Or I might set 
before you the terrors of the judgment, when every 
one of us shall give an account of himself unto God, 
and when He that sitteth upon the throne will announce. 
Inasmuch as ye have not done it unto one of the least 
of these, ye have not done it unto me ; and when, 
unto covetous men, as well as unto liars and idolaters, 
he will say, Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, 
prepared for the devil and his angels. 

With this brief allusion, we shall, however, at 
present dismiss these solemn considerations. Our 
21 



238 MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 

object, this evening, will be merely to present before 
you some arguments to enforce the duty of charity, 
drawn entirely from the relations of the present life. 
You all desire to secure your own happiness^ to promote 
your own interests^ and to act ivorthily of that rank 
which you hold as members of GocTs intelligent creation. 
To show you that these objects can best be accom- 
plished by a life of benevolence, is all that we propose 
in the present discourse. 

And here, at the commencement of this discussion, 
I scarcely need remind you, how universally you are 
at present engaged in the pursuit of wealth. Most 
probably, I do not address a single individual, who is 
not directly or indirectly devoting to pecuniary acqui- 
sition, by far the greater part of his time, his talent, 
nay, of his very being. A suitable degree of attention 
to this object, is consistent with the first principles of 
our nature. Wealth is power. It is an important 
instrument for the production of effect. Nor is this 
attention inconsistent with the precepts of religion. 
We are commanded by revelation to be diligent in 
business ; and he that careth not for his own house, is 
declared to have denied the faith. 

The results of this diligence are also visible among us. 
Every year, nay, every day, is bearing testimony to 
the blessing of God upon the labor of your hands. 
Each retu.rning season adds its successive portion to 
your property, and thus places under your control 
accumulated means of happiness. The question to 
be considered, this evening, is. How may you most 
wisely expend that wealth which you have acquired, 
or are acquiring ? 



MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 239 

That portion of your property, which is not con- 
sumed in procuring the necessities and conveniences 
of life, must be expended in one of the two following 
ways : either in securing the means 0/ personal grati- 
fication, or else inpromoting the welfare of others. 
Under the first mode of expenditure, may be compre- 
hended all those appropriations of property by which 
it is devoted to sensual enjoyment, to the luxuries of 
the table, of dress, of equipage, of furniture, and indeed 
to all that which serves merely to pamper the appe- 
tites, gratify the indolence, or feed the vanity of this 
body that perisheth. It is also thus employed when 
it ministers to covetousness ; as for example, when 
it is used merely as the means of further acquisition. 
With these there may be combined various other 
modes of expenditure, according to the character, 
the age, and the passions of the individual. The love 
of distinction, the love of power, the love of ease, may 
each call for its portion out of our annual income ; 
but of all of them the object is evidently and exclu- 
sively our own personal gratijication^ without any visi- 
ble regard to the weal or the wo of our brethren of the 
human race. 

On the contrary, every man may, if he will, say to 
the all-grasping spirit of selfishness within him. Thus 
far shalt thou come, and no farther; and in the ex- 
penditure of his property, and the occupation of his 
time, think not merely of his own things, but also of 
the things of others. We thus act, when we banish 
from our tables the superfluities of life, that we may 
have wherewith to feed the widow and the fatherless. 
We thus act, when we deny ourselves of the costliness 



240 MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 

of dress, of furniture, or of equipage, that we may 
minister to the houseless children of poverty and 
neglect. But many of you may taste richly of the 
pleasures of benevolence, without even these self- 
denials. I add, therefore, that we may accomplish 
most signally the work of benevolence, if we will prefer 
the solid glory of living usefully^ to the empty name of 
having died /ich ; if, instead of adding, with an eager- 
ness that never can be satisfied, to a property already 
sufficient for all our reasonable wants, we limit our 
desires, and consecrate the accumulations of our income 
to the well-being of our brethren. Beside relieving 
the physical, we may still more abundantly relieve the 
intellectual and moral misery of our race. We may 
pour the light of science upon the neighborhoods of 
poverty and ignorance, and raise from obscurity that 
genius, which shall make its power felt upon the doings 
of mankind ; or we may move the press, that mighty 
lever which sustains the spirit of the age, and, spreading 
abroad those exhibitions of truth by which public 
opinion is gained over to virtue, behold the effect which 
we have produced upon the collected mass of universal 
man. And still more, by such appropriations of wealth, 
we may disseminate the principles of that religion by 
which this whole world is yet to be reclaimed from 
misery and sin, and teach its people, and nations, and 
languages, to send back again to heaven that song 
which heaven itself hath taught us, Glory be to God 
in the highest, on earth peace, and good will to men. 
Such are the two very different modes, in which 
wealth may be employed. I ask, in the first place, 



MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 241 

I. Which mode of expenditure will conduce most to 
our happiness ? 

Here it is scarcely necessary that I remind you, 
that we live under the government of an all wise, all 
powerful, and most merciful Creator. His dispensa- 
tions towards us in nature, and providence, and re- 
demption, abundantly manifest that he most of all de- 
sires the happiness of men, whom he has condescended 
to designate as his children. And lest from our igno- 
rance or blindness, we should err in the pursuit of it, 
he has been pleased to give us directions which we 
denominate his laws. In exact correspondence with 
these laws, he has framed the whole system of things 
of which we form a part, and hath scattered happiness 
every where within the pathway of obedience, and 
misery and disappointment every where without it. 
His faithfulness is as unwavering as his providence is 
universal, or his power omnipotent. We cannot con- 
tend against God, nor render that good which he hath 
constituted evil. Our inquiry, how may we best pro- 
mote our ow^n happiness, is, therefore, at once reduced 
to this. What hath God commanded ? 

His commands on the subject before us are such 
as these : Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 
Be ye merciful, even as your Father who is in heaven 
is merciful. Thou shalt open thy hand wide to thy 
poor brother, to thy poor and needy in thy land. To 
do good and to communicate, forget not ; for with such 
sacrifices God is well pleased. Or if we were to sum 
up the teachings of revelation in one general precept, 
it would be this. Man may find happiness, not in 
ministering to himself, but in ministering unto others. 
21^ 



242 MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 

He thai, heedless of the woes of others, seeks only 
self gratification, shall be inevitably disappointed. He 
ihat, regardless of himself, seeks for the welfare of 
others, shall be an hundred fold rewarded. He that 
seeketh his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his life 
shall find it. Here then we have the decision of that 
good Being, w^iose tender mercies have followed us, 
untired and unexhausted, through all the long years of 
our w^aywardness and folly; who so loved us, that he 
gave up his own Son to the death for us, and though 
I could see no farther, I would trust him. I know 
that his desire for my welfare hath dictated his com- 
mandment, and, therefore, that my happiness can best be 
promoted by promoting the happiness of my brethren. 

But we may go still farther. Not only hath God by 
his law made benevolence necessary to our happiness, 
he hath impressed that same necessity upon us in the act 
of our creation. The mysterious being, man, is, as you 
know, made up of a material, an intellectual, and a 
moral nature. By means of the first, he is connected 
with the visible universe around him. The second 
judges of truth and error, of beauty and deformity, of 
sublimity and meanness. It is his moral nature^alone 
which judges of right and wrong, which renders him 
amenable to moral law, and connects him with the 
various orders of being that are above him. It is 
evident that his happiness must be found in the cuhi- 
vation of one or another of these parts of his nature. 

An J here I will not insult you, by attempting to 
prove, that the happiness of man has but little con- 
nexion either with the gratifications of sense, or with 
devotion to that ceaseless round of frivolity, which the 



MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. £43 

children of thoughtlessness call amusement. Alas ! 
This is the fatal soil where grow, in rank luxuriance, 
ennui, disappointment, malice, despair, and suicide. 
Nor is it less evident, that intellectual cultivation can- 
not secure the happiness of man. To this truth, the 
names of Savage, of Chatterton, of Rousseau, of Burns, 
and Byron, bear melancholy testimony. It is, then, 
only in the cultivation of his moral powers, that the 
happiness of man may with certainty be attained. 
Those pleasures alone are enduring, which result from 
obedience to the will of our Maker, and which approx- 
imate us more and more nearly to the moral image of 
our Father who is in heaven. And it is in works of 
charity, by way of eminence, that he hath commanded 
us to imitate him. Be ye therefore merciful, even as 
your Father in heaven is merciful. Here then is the 
solid basis on which alone the happiness of a creature 
can rest ; all others are shifting as the tempest-tossed 
sand. 

Here is firm footing, here is solid rock; 
This can support us; all is sea beside; 
Sinks under us, bestorrns, and then devours. 
His hand the good man fastens in the skies, 
And bids earth roll, nor feels her idle whirl. 

Let It not be said, that here I am speaking theory. 
You are men of observation, and to your own obser- 
vation I appeal, and ask, whether I do not speak 
truth. You have lived long enough to know what 
riches, and sensuality, and gaiety, and intellect can do, 
and I ask you now for your own unbiassed verdict. 
Hath gold ever yet erected a palace from which care 
has been excluded, or hath it devised a portion which 



244 MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 

could relieve the heart-ache ? Or, I ask, is there one 
of you so base that he doth not despise the sensualist, 
or so simple, that he doth not pily the children of the 
song and the dance ? Is not that man yet in his in- 
fancy, who hath not already said of laughter, it is mad- 
ness, and of mirth, what doeth it ? And yet more, 
were 1 to ask you, this evening, to point out to me 
the happiest human being whom you have ever known, 
there is not one of you who would not pass over, 
without a thought, the distinctions made by wealth and 
poverty, learning and ignorance, fashion and obscurity, 
prosperity and adversity, and direct me to the humble 
and benevolent disciple of Jesus Christ, who, following 
the example of his Master, was going about doing 
good, and who laid his head on his pillow at the close 
of every day, in the glorious consciousness, that he 
had not lived in vain. And tell me, ye men of feeling 
and of sympathy, ye whose hearts are not corroded 
by unhallowed love of gold, and whose souls are not 
steeped in brutish sensuality, is there any form of w^ords, 
derived from the language of earth, so expressive of 
the fullness of joy, as those which I have read to you 
as the foundation of this discourse ? Owhat is the 
madness of pleasure, the glitter of wealth, the splendor 
of intellect, to the bliss of that man, who, looking 
abroad upon the happiness which he himself hath cre- 
ated, can say with the patriarch of Uz, When the ear 
heard me, then it blessed me ; and when the eye saw 
me, then it bear witness unto me ; because I delivered 
the poor when he cried, the fatherless, and him that had 
none to help him. The blessing of him that was 



MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 245 

ready to perish, came upon me, and I caused the 
widow's heart to sing for joy. 

II. But secondly. I behold before me many men 
who are desirous of distinction, of power, of influence, or 
o{ that, by what name soever it be called, which will 
enable you to sway the decisions of the community, 
and give to your own arm the strength of a collected 
population. Listen to us, then, while we show you, 
that benevolence is for your interest. Here, distinction 
may be purchased without opposition, enjoyed without 
envy, and surrendered without regret. Here, influence 
may be acquired without sacrifice of principle, and 
retained without consciousness of guilt. 

The foundation of that power which ye all desire, 
must be laid, as you are aware, in the good opinion 
of your fellow citizens. Tell us then, ye men, who 
believe yourselves initiated into the secretsof a profound 
sagacity, hath there been any surer, or more honorable, 
or more direct way to gain that good opinion, than in 
truth and in honesty to deserve it? We will tell you 
a secret more valuable than any which ye have ever 
yet learned ; and which your prying but purblind in- 
genuity hath never yet discovered. That skill on 
which ye so much boast yourselves, consists in 
merely giving to your own selfishness the appearance of 
that very philanthropy which ye so much despise. A 
power which ye do not understand, is, by combinations 
which ye cannot counteract, daily stripping off your 
disguises, and consigning you to merited neglect. 
Other actors will succeed you, themselves to be in turn 
unmasked, and to follow you into oblivion. And hence 
the ceaseless agitations of the political world. 



246 MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 

Suffer us then to tell you now, for it will be too late 
when you learn it from experience, that this same 
feeling, which shuts out other men from your sympa- 
thies, shuts you out equally from theirs. The adroit- 
ness of management will not always avail, and you 
will yet find yourselves impotent and friendless, iso- 
lated, and alone. The substantial regard of the com- 
munity is to be purchased only hy doing that commu- 
nity good. You must love your fellow men, or they 
will not love you back again ; and ye cannot have the 
pearl unless ye will pay the price. Love yourselves 
less, and ye shall accomplish your own purposes 
better. Be in fact w^hat you would have us believe 
you to be. Employ that time, that wealth, and those 
talents, in honest, pains-taking, matter-of-fact be- 
nevolence, which you now employ in maintaining the 
mere appearance of it, and you shall obtain a power 
of which no party revolution can deprive you ; your 
life shall be honored by your country's gratitude, and 
your tomb shall be hallowed by a nation's tears. Give, 
and it shall be given unto you ; good measure, pressed 
down, and shaken together, and running over, shall 
men give into your bosoms. For with the same 
measure that ye mete withal, it shall be measured to 
you again. 

But, while on this part of my subject, I have another 
consideration to urge. I appeal to your desire for 
earthly immortality. 

The secluded peasant carves his name on the tree 
which hath sheltered him from the summer's shower. 
The passing tourist scratches his initials on the rock 
upon which he hath gazed. And thus the traveller. 



MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 247 

on the journey of life, would fain leave some memo- 
rial, which shall convince the crowd which shall come 
after him, that his name stood for something that was 
worthy of the character of man. 

For who, to dull forgetfiilness a prey, 
This pleasing, anxious being e'er resigned, 
Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day, 
Nor cast one longing, lingering look behind 1 

This desire so universal, so natural to man, revela- 
tion hath no where forbidden. Let it only be directed 
to proper objects, and she cherishes it. But how 
shall wealth purchase this much coveted remembrance ? 
Is it by pampering these bodies, on which the earth 
worm so soon shall revel ? Is it by hoarding up 
treasures, which our children shall squander in 
thoughtless extravagance ? Is it by building habita- 
tions, which the men who shall come after us, will 
level with the dust? O it is pitiful, to behold how 
quickly the memory of him, who boasteth himself in 
his riches, is forgotten ! In the very scramble for his 
weahh, of which he himself hath set the example, his 
name and his character are trampled under foot ! Thus, 
O my God, dost thou pour avenging blindness over 
the eyes of selfish men, and make their own iniquitous 
passions the executioners of thy righteous retribution. 

Do you ask, then, how shall wealth acquire for you, 
remembrance upon earth ? We answer, write your 
history in deeds of mercy, and your memory shall live. 
So long as there are sick to be visited, or naked to 
be clothed, or ignorant to be taught, or vicious to be 
reclaimed, or heathen to be converted, you have it in 
your power to secure to yourself a name, which shall 



248 MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 

shine with still increasing lustre, when that of con- 
querors and heroes shall long since have been forgotten. 
The righteous shall be held in everlasting remembrance. 
The pride of learning, neglected by an advancing age, 
sinks with its authors into oblivion. The wreath of 
the victor withers, but the wreath of the philanthropist 
shall bloom forever. The glory of Napoleon, mighti- 
est of the mighty though he were, is fast fading away, 
and year after year is rapidly erasing the lines which 
he drew upon the destinies of Europe. The glory of 
Robert Raikes is every year growing brighter, for its 
record is written in the moral history of man. The 
one, like the flaming meteor, glared wildly at Austerlitz; 
it sunk at St. Helena, and the light which marked 
its track is quickly evanishing in darkness. The other, 
rose mildly as the morning sun, and it is yet rising. 
Ages will elapse ere it reaches its meridian. There, 
fixed, like the sun of Joshua, it shall hang high in mid- 
heaven, until the judgment trumpet shall announce 
that the warfare is accomplished, and the victory is 
won, and we shall reign forever and ever. 

III. I proceed to the third argument, and ask, which 
mode of living is most consistent with the dignity of 
your nature. 

When I contemplate this subject in this light, I look 
around upon this assembly with unaffected awe. I 
behold every individual of you, animated by a soul, 
that finds her peers among the seraphim in light. I 
know that that soul is endowed with a taste, formed 
to appreciate the loveliness of aught that God has 
formed, with an understanding capable of grasping 
whatever is finite of knowledge, with an imagination 



MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 249 

which may stretch its untired wing wherever the finger 
of God hath left the traces of his power, and with a 
conscience formed to dwell forever in the presence of 
the Holy One, while, throughout interminable ages, it 
is approaching nearer and nearer to the fountain of 
uncreated excellence ; and that upon each one of these 
attributes is impressed the awful seal of immortality. 
But, greatly as I admire these mysterious powers, 
when separately considered, I am yet more astonished 
at the capacity for effect with which they have en- 
dowed the being in whom they are concentrated. I 
look back upon the history of ages gone by, and am 
amazed at the changes which a single mind hath fre- 
quently wrought upon the destinies of man, yes, and 
a mind, differing in no one respect, from that of any 
one of yours, only in that it acted. I behold before me 
a mass of intellectual power, which, were it exerted 
in a suitable direction, and to its utmost limit, might 
send abroad a flood of moral influence, which should 
grow broader and deeper as it rolled down through 
successive generations, until its effects had been felt 
by every dweller upon earth, and every brother of our 
race had rejoiced that we had lived. 

For whatever else then God may have designed us, 
one thing is certain, he designed us for the production 
of effect ; and it is no less certain, that in the produc- 
tion of effect, we act most worthily of the dignity of 
our nature. The man whom God hath endowed with 
such powers, deserves worse than contempt, who shall 
consign them to inaction. He is faithless to himself. 
He is faithless to his species. He is faithless to his 
God. The only question then is, in what direction 
22 



250 MOTIVES TO BEXEFICEXCE. 

can these powers be most favorably and most suc- 
cessfully exerted. 

And here I will not trifle even with you, ye children 
of the present age, so much as to ask, whether the 
probationary history of such a being should be wTitten, 
amid the roar of dinner tables, the frivolity of a ball 
room, or the trickery of the exchange. Nor will I 
ask, whether such capacities should be narrowed down 
to the raking together of gold, or the piling together 
of mortar and brick. I will remark at once, that the 
answer to the question, In what manner may the pow- 
ers of such a being be most worthily exerted, seems, 
from a single consideration, sufSciently obvious. God 
hath placed each of us in a world, abounding on every 
side with physical, and intellectual, and moral evil. He 
hath endowed us with wonderful attributes; but these 
attributes are most wonderful in their ability to do away 
this evil. In this direction therefore can they be most 
sitccessfully exerted; for thus does their exertion pro- 
duce the greatest and most permanent effect. Thus then, 
can we act most worthily of our incomparable nature. 

I have said, that in ivorl's of benevolence, human 
exertion produces the greatest and the most permanent 
effect. History is filled with illustrations of the truth 
of this remark. The world has for nearly two thou- 
sand years been filled with the fame of Julius Caesar. 
He was the master spirit of his age ; and strongly was 
that age agitated by the workings of his genius. But 
what traces hath he left upon the ages that have come 
after him ? In what is the world now the better, or 
the worse, for his having lived ? You and I would 
have been as wise and as happy, though his fame and 



MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 251 

his achievements had never passed the Hmits of Brun- 
dusium. But it is not so with the labors of the apostle 
of the Gentiles. The effect of his life is seen in the 
revolution of a world from Paganism to Christianity. 
Every thing we behold around us, which distinguishes 
us from the savage Britons, bears witness to the 
changes, which, through the power of the Gospel, he 
has wrought in the destinies of man. Of Charles V. 
I have read much, but 1 see nothing on the face of 
society that reminds me of his existence. But this 
solemn temple, the liberty to worship God within its 
consecrated walls, the civil freedom of our common- 
wealth, and of our country, and all that career of im- 
provement on which the age hath entered, all, all of 
it does homage to the name of Martin Luther. 
Such examples as these, and history is full of them, 
teach us, that in the work of benevolence, man may 
act most worthily of his high destination. They teach 
us, moreover, that this is the cause, and the only cause, 
to the success of which the omnipotence of God is 
pledged, and which therefore, though every other 
should fail, shall infallibly succeed. But we are not 
left to conjecture on this subject. Jehovah himself 
hath promised that vice and misery shall yet be done 
away from our world, and that it shall be done away 
by human effort ; and, planting on Calvary the cross of 
his well beloved Son, he hath left to the universe 
the all-sufficient guarantee, that the work shall yet be 
fully and triumphantly accomplished. 

Thus evident is it, from the constitution under 
which we are placed, as well as from the excellence 
of our own endowments, that the dignity of our being 



252 MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 

calls US to philanthropic effort. We derive an addi- 
tional argument, from a contemplation of the employ- 
ments of superior orders of intelligences. 

Revelation informs us, that there are creatures en- 
dowed with powers more exalted than our own , 
creatures who have never sinned, and who draw near 
to that hallowed, uncreated light where sits enthroned 
the King Eternal. Of these employments, we know 
but little ; but we know enough to be assured that 
they are mainly the works of benevolence. Are they 
not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to 
those w^ho are heirs of salvation ? Of their visits to 
our earth, rarely have we been conscious ; for this dull 
veil of materialism hides them from our sight. But 
at times, this veil has been withdrawn, and then, I pray 
you, where do we behold them ? They are seen 
watching over the lonely pillow of a sleeping patriarch, 
protecting in the hour of his devotion a persecuted 
prophet, visiting in prison the apostle of the Jews, 
communing in the hour of his peril with the apostle of 
the Gentiles, and ministering in the desert and in the 
garden unto Him, who was a man of sorrows and 
acquainted with grief. Such are the places of their 
choicest visitation. Is it not seemly for us to follow 
their example ? 

But w^e may learn our duty from more awful examples. 
The Deity hath revealed himself mainly to us as a God 
of benevolence. I read in his word, much of his 
wisdom, of his power, of his omnipresence; but I read 
more of his compassion. These other attributes are 
but handmaids to his mercv, for God is love. In the 
material world, infinite as are the exhibitions of his 



MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 253 

incomparable skill, that skill is ever subservient to the 
happiness of sensitive being. Throughout the sor- 
rowful history of this apostate world, we have beheld 
him, every where, so overruling the vicissitudes of 
nations, and the movements of society, as to hasten 
onward the reign of righteousness and peace. The 
design of the work of redemption is summed up in 
this one word, God so loved the world, that he sent 
his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him 
might not perish. We tremble at his power. We 
stand in awe of his omniscience. We fall prostrate 
before his purity. But tell me, if there be aught of 
his doings, that fills us with so adoring a veneration, 
as when we behold the high and lofty One, stooping 
from the high and holy place, to feed the hungry, to 
clothe the naked, to counsel the ignorant, to be the 
Father to the fatherless, the Judge of the widow, to 
comfort the cast down, to speak peace to the penitent, 
and, drawing near to the lowly couch of the humblest 
of his children, to whisper in the ear of the departing 
spirit. Fear not, I am with thee ; be not dismayed, I 
am thy God ; I will strengthen thee, I will help thee ; 
yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my 
righteousness. Brethren, let us learn a lesson of 
mercy of our Father who is in heaven. Be ye follow- 
ers, imitators, of God, as dear children. 

But there is another example of equal authority, 
and of yet more affecting application. You will all 
anticipate that to which I allude. Deity himself hath 
been an inhabitant of our world. The Word was 
God, and dwelt among us. He came hither on an 
errand of benevolence. He came to seek and to save 
22^ 



254 MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 

that which was lost. He who was the brightness of 
the Father's glory was bruised for our iniquities ; he 
was wounded for our transgressions ; the chastisement 
by which our peace was effected was upon him, and 
by his stripes we are healed. Strange was the errand 
which brought him hither, and yet more strange, the 
manner in which that errand was accomplished. For 
where when on earth was the Son of God to be found? 
Upholding all things by the word of his power, 
was he seen in the palaces of princes ? Sharing the 
councils of eternity, was he found in the cabinets of 
statesmen ? The high possessor of heaven and earth, 
did he aspire after the society of the honorable and 
the rich ? Ah ! disciple of Jesus Christ, thy Master, 
was not little enough for this world's greatness. I 
blush for thee while I speak it. Thy Redeemer was 
found a houseless philanthropist, travelling on foot 
from village to village, over the most despised province 
of the Roman empire. His associates were fishermen 
and publicans, and a few poor women who ministered 
to him of their substance. He was to be seen feeding 
the hungry, giving sight to the blind, and health to the 
diseased, at the bedside of the sick, comforting the 
cast down, binding up the broken in heart, and 
preaching the Gospel to the poor. His history on 
earth is thus briefly summed up by the pen of inspira- 
tion, He went about doing good. Thus hath God 
taught us how he himself would live were he such an 
one as we. Brethren, you see this part of my subject 
is exhausted. I can say no more. 

You will all bear me witness, my hearers, that 
throughout this discourse I have addressed myself 



MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 255 

plainly and exclusively to your sober judgment. I 
have reasoned from no principles but those which you 
all admit ; from no facts but those with which you are 
intimately acquainted. I have stated every thing 
fairly and coolly, and, so far as I know, have stated 
every thing precisely as it is. Sensible, however, of 
the fallacy of human reasonings, I am desirous of 
bringing all that I have said to some decisive test, so 
that you yourselves may judge whether anything false, 
or any thing exaggerated, has been alleged on this 
subject. Such a test I consider to be the views you 
will entertain respecting a life of benevolence, when 
you draw^ near to eternity. In this light let us now 
consider it. 

The hour is rapidly approaching, my friends, when 
each one of us shall not only know that he must die, 
but shall feel that he is dying. I will suppose this 
hour to arrive under circumstances most favorable for 
forming a correct and unbiassed estimate of the value 
of every earthly possession. I will suppose you in as 
full possession of your reason as you are at this mo- 
ment. I will suppose all uncertainty respecting the 
event to be done away, that medical skill has announced 
the hour of your decease, and that you already feel 
that indescribable something, which assures you that 
the soul is already breaking loose from her tabernacle 
of clay. I will suppose, moreover, that you have some 
adequate conceptions of the strictness of the law by 
which you must be judged, of the holiness of the 
Being before whom you must stand, of the unutterable 
bliss in reserve for the righteous, and of the unuttera- 
ble agonies which await the wicked. I will also 



256 MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 

suppose you to be perfectly aware, that the time for 
repentance is past ; and that all which now remains 
for you, is, to ascertain from the facts of your past his- 
tory, whether, your life has or has not been spent in 
preparation for eternity. At that solemn moment, 
every power of thought within you will be concentrated 
upon the question. Am I a disciple of Jesus Christ ? 
The soul asks, and the holy oracle answers. Unless a 
man deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow 
me, he cannot be my disciple. The dying man calls 
up in review the days and weeks and months ^and 
years that are past ; and in an agony demands of 
each. Have I denied myself, have I taken up my 
cross, have I followed Christ ? Ah, who can describe 
the despair of him, who, from one and from all of 
them, receives the stern, the all-deciding answer, No. 
The die is cast. But who can tell the horrors of 
the coming interval ! Terrified at the gulf before 
her, the soul looks back upon the past ; but all is filled 
with horrible visions. Power, rank, applause, learning, 
all have bidden her adieu in the hour of her calamity, 
and have left her to her Judge. Her very amusements 
have turned traitors, and accuse her of self destruction. 
The card table, the theatre, the ball room, speak now 
only of murdered time and wasted opportunity. That 
pampered body, that vacant mind, those ungoverned 
passions, that hoarded gold, all declare that she 
hath lived unto herself. Behind all is condemna- 
tion ; before her, naught is seen but the terrific efful- 
gence of the long suffering, most merciful, but abused, 
insulted, thrice holy Lord God Almighty. Speech 
fails ; but the glare of those sightless eyeballs tells, 



MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 257 

that the spirit seeth visions which language cannot 
utter. An unearthly groan, and all is still. The 
affrighted ghost, in all the horrors of self condemna- 
tion, stands before her Judge. 

But, blessed be God^^there are other death beds 
than these. 1 will supPlfe a Christian man, also in 
the full possession of his reason, to be drawing near 
to eternity. And let me tell thee, hearer, that neither 
the belief nor the disbelief of a particular creed, nor 
the remembrance of gleams of joy and moments of 
despair, nor the assurance of conversion some twenty 
years since, nor yet the utter denial of the necessity 
of conversion, will sustain thee in that solemn moment. 
Then, unless ye be sunk into fatal apathy, will ye look 
back upon your past life with as trembling an anxiety, 
as the dying sinner who is gasping by the side of you. 
Then will ye call upon the years gone by, for facts 
to bear witness that ye are the disciples of Him, that 
justifieth the ungodly. Then, more precious than the 
gold of Ophir will be the remembrance of unapplauded 
charities, of self-denying effort, of the ignorant instruct- 
ed, the sick visited, the mourner consoled, the wicked 
amended, the cup of cold water given to a disciple, nay, 
of aught which shall prove, that deaf to the voice of 
pleasure, or of ease, or of ambition, or of gold, the soul 
hath habitually asked. Lord, what wilt thou have me 
to do ? and hath done it. The Spirit witnesseth with the 
spirit of the dying man that he is born of God. Look- 
ing steadfastly into eternity, the language of holy tri- 
umph quivers on his lips. I have fought a good fight; 
I have finished my course ; I have kept the faith ; 
and henceforth is reserved for me, a crown of right- 



258 MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 

eousness, which God, the righteous Judge, shall give 
me at that day. 

There is an interval. Ministering spirits whisper 
peace to the departing soul. The countenance of the 
dying saint beams with ineffable glory. The earthly 
house of her tabernacle is diBitlved, and the free spirit, 
having washed her robes and made them white in the 
blood of the Lamb, is bowing with angel and archangel 
before the throne of the Holy One. 

My brethren, I have done. I have endeavoured 
honestly to set before you the considerations which 
seem to me to have a bearing upon the question before 
us. Though I am pleading the cause of benevolence, 
yet God is my witness, that love to your souls hath 
taught me to speak as I have done. 

It now remains that each one of you should apply 
this subject to himself. In the presence of God, the 
Judge of all, I ask you this evening, how will you 
hereafter live ? Will you spend your wealth in minis- 
tering to your pleasures and your pride, or in creating 
happiness among your brethren ? Will you live and 
die, and be forgotten, like the brutes that perish ? or 
will you embalm your memory in the gratitude of a 
world which you have made better ? Will ye so use 
the treasures which God hath given you, that they shall 
witness against you at the last day, or will ye so use 
them, that, when ye die, ye shall be received into 
everlasting habitations ? Who of you is on the Lord's 
side ? Who ? The answer that you have given will 
be recorded on high.. 

But I will not ask you. I behold you already re- 
solved on deeds of benevolence. Let every one of 



MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 259 

US then put forth his hand to the work. Let us make 
one decided, universal effort, to banish misery and 
vice from this highly favored metropolis. Aye, let us 
ennoble it by our labors of philanthropy. And let us 
not cease, until it shall be distinction proud enough 
for any common man, that he drew his first breath in 
the city of the pilgrims. 

But it is time that I adverted to the more immediate 
purpose for which we have this evening assembled. 
The Howard Benevolent Society requests your aid, 
and they have made it my duty to spread their case 
before you. I will solicit your attention only while I 
do so with all possible brevity. 

Allow me to mention at the beginning, that I speak 
on this subject from my own personal knowledge. 
When I undertook this service, I well knew that you 
would expect from me something more than vague, 
every day report. I therefore determined to examine 
for myself, for I dared to tell you only what I knew 
to be indubitable fact. 1 therefore requested- one of 
their most benevolent associates to show me in what 
labors the society was engaged. He cheerfully com- 
plied, and a part of several days was devoted to this 
work of investigation. Its results I am happy to lay 
before you. 

We went to a garret, where a family of friendless 
foreigners, who had been driven by misfortune from 
the land of their nativity, were huddled around their 
remaining embers. There I heard that this society 
had saved these parents from sinking into despair, and 
had rescued their children from ignorance and vice. 
We groped our way through dark and lonely passages, 



260 MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 

where nothing but poverty or mercy would venture, 
and I saw how childless, decrepit age, was looking 
to him for defence against hunger, and cold, and 
nakedness. He led me to a crowded and smoky 
chamber, where, stretched on a bed of sickness, lay a 
husband and a father, whose honest and manly face 
was worthy of the age, as he was of the country, of 
William Wallace. His children, excepting those now 
in helpless infancy, had been swept away by death. 
His vessels had been stranded on our coast, and one of 
them was wrecked in our own bay. Of all his prop- 
erty, the only thing left him, as he himself informed us, 
was his family Bible ; and excepting that bold fore- 
head, that commanding eye, and the well bred tones 
of that faltering voice, it was the only thing in the 
apartment which reminded us of better days. I there 
learned how this Society had stepped in, between this 
family and absolute starvation, and how it was, at this 
moment, holding them up from sinking into the grave. 
We went to the chamber of many a widow, and every 
where did I find that the manager of this Society was 
received as the harbinger of joy. We visited one, 
whose prospects had been fair, and whose eye beamed 
with as much intelligence as that of any one of you 
who now hears me ; yes, and it beamed with piety 
too. The husband of her youth had been prematurely 
snatched away. For a while she cheerfully and hap- 
pily supported, by her own labor, her little fatherless 
children. At length, consumption marked her for his 
victim. Still she yielded not. For the sake of her 
two little ones, she long maintained the unequal con- 
flict with both poverty and disease. At last, nature 



MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 261 

sunk beneath the struggle. It was then that this soci- 
ety came to her rescue. But for their aid, she and 
her children must have died. I marked how her 
countenance brightened, as the friend who accompa- 
nied me entered. I was touched by the sympathy 
with which he inquired concerning her wants, and 
no less so with the trembling confidence with which 
she looked up to this society for the protection of these 
children, who, as she was too well aware, were soon 
to become orphans. He would have taken me further, 
but I felt it to be needless. I knew that I had only 
to state what I had already seen, of the deeds of these 
benevolent men, to render it certain that you would 
not allow their plea to pass by you unregarded. 

It is to carry forward such works of mercy, that 
they ask your assistance. They need, in the first 
place, your personal services. The duties of this 
charity occupy time ; for this society mean to act 
with discrimination. They relieve no applicant, 
except after personal examination of the nature of 
the case. The labor falls heavily upon them, and 
though they do not repine, they ask for more co- 
adjutors, that thus their charity may be more widely 
extended. 

They ask for your pecuniary aid. Their treasury 
is exhausted. They already give their time. They 
give liberally of their money. But they cannot meet 
the demands upon their benevolence, for their means 
are limited. As a last resource, they appeal to your 
liberality ; 1 know that you will not suffer such an 
appeal to be made to you in vain. 

And now, I entreat each one of you, in the solitude 
23 



262 MOTIVES TO BENEFICENCE. 

of his own bosom, to decide now how much he will 
cast into the sacred treasury. We ask you, ye men 
of weahh, w^ho, a few days since, when consternation 
sat on every countenance, trembled lest the earnings 
of a whole life time should be lost in the crash of 
universal bankruptcy, how large a tribute of gratitude 
do ye owe to that God, who has saved you from ruin ? 
We ask you, ye men of letters, counsellors, physicians, 
ministers of the altar, how large a portion of your 
income is due to the sacred purpose of rescuing 
parents from absolute starvation, and their children 
from ignorance and vice? We ask you, men of labor, 
W'ho, rich in health, are able yet to bid defiance to 
poverty, what w'ill ye give to your brethren, whom 
sickness has deprived of their only means of support ? 
We ask you, mothers and daughters, what token of 
sympathy will ye this evening extend to the lone, 
sinking, despairing widow, and to her helpless little 
ones? O let each of us prove himself worthy of the 
brotherhood of man. 

But I know that you will act worthily. Your former 
deeds of mercy are ah'eady recorded. May the event 
show that ye have improved in charity and piety, by 
the moral cultivation of another year. May ye so use 
the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye fail, ye 
may be received into everlasting habitations. May 
God grant it for Christ's sake. Amen. 



OBJECTIONS 



TO THE 



DOCTRINE OF CHRIST CRUCIFIED CONSIDERED. 



1 CORINTHIANS, I. 22-24. 

FOR THE JEWS REqUIRE A SIGN, AND THE GREEKS SEEK 
AFTER \VISOOM ; BUT WE PREACH CHRIST CRUCIFIED, 
UNTO THE JEWS A STUMBLING BLOCK, AND TO THE 
GREEKS FOOLISHNESS ; BUT UNTO THExM: THAT ARE 
CALLED, BOTH JEWS AJND GREEKS, CHRIST THE POWER 
OF GOD, AND THE WISDOM OF GOD. 

Thk word Christ signifies the anointed one. It is 
precisely equivalent to the word Messiah, one of the 
most august forms of designation which the Hebrew 
language contains. Crucifixion was a mode of capital 
punishment, inflicted only upon criminals of the lowest 
rank and the most aggrav^ated turpitude. Hence the 
words, Christ crucified, signify the Messiah, or the 
anointed one, suffering a most painful and ignominious 
death. 

We are informed by the Apostle in the text, that 
the doctrine expressed by these words met with 
universal opposition. The Jews, as a nation, rejected 



264 THE PREACHING OF 

it. The Messiah, whom Paul preached, took prece- 
dence of Moses. By fulfilling, he claimed to have 
abrogated, the ceremonial law; and asserting plenary 
authority over the conscience, he enforced, with un- 
precedented strictness, every precept of the moral 
law. To men, perfectly assured of the validity of 
their hereditary claim to eternal life, he declared, 
Except a man be born again, he cannot see the king- 
dom of God. And yet more, this man who asserted 
his claim to such authority, was the son of a carpenter; 
he had lived in what was to the great world, obscurity, 
and he had died upon the cross, as a common male- 
factor. I need go into no farther explanation, in 
order to illustrate to you how much is meant in the 
text by the expression, Christ crucified, to the Jews 
a stumbling block. 

And to the Greeks it was foolishness. The Greeks 
were at this period, and they had been for ages pre- 
vious, the leading thinkers of the world. They 
thought much and they thought acutely, but it is 
deeply to be regretted that they thought proudly. 
Disdaining to be instructed by the various and ever 
changing forms of being which they beheld around 
them, and unacquainted with the real powers and uses 
of the human understanding, they supposed that all 
pure and universal truth might be excogitated by the 
solitary workings of an isolated mind. They thus, at 
the very outset, turned their backs upon earth, sea, 
sky, upon the solid sphere beneath them, and the 
gorgeous canopy of heaven above them, where every 
thing that the eye sees unfolds a law of the universe, 
and every thing that the ear hears whispers pure truth 



CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 265 

to the humbly inquiring philosopher. If then, in the 
pride of their hearts, they slighted the lessons which 
the finger of God hath inscribed in lines of beauty 
and of grandeur on all this wide creation, you can 
conceive, better than I can describe, how they would 
despise a system of moral law promulgated by a Jew, 
a name always odious ; nay, by a Jew distinguished 
neither by rank nor learning, and who had, at the 
hands of his ow^n countrymen, suffered the death of a 
common felon. Language furnishes us with no modes 
of expression at all adequate to convey even a feeble 
notion of the implacable and contemptuous indignation 
with which a thoroughly bred disciple of Zeno, Plato, 
or Aristotle, would look both upon the claim of Jesus 
of Nazareth to supreme authority in morals, and upon 
the revelation which he might profess to make re- 
specting the much talked of but yet unseen world. 
When, before the Areopagus, Paul preached the 
resurrection of the dead, some mocked. 

Now there never was a mind on which this sort of 
treatment would inflict more acute suffering, than on 
that of the apostle Paul. Though a man of firm, he 
was also a man of sensitive nerves. And thus it was, 
that the preaching of the Gospel was to him a source 
of what he denominates a continued crucifixion. He 
had continual heaviness and great sorrow of heart for 
his brethren, and yet they considered him as their most 
implacable enemy. He understood the law of Moses 
vastly better than they, and by the doctrine which he 
taught, was in fact establishing it; and yet, he knew 
that they all considered him as the great subverter, 
both of the law and of the prophets. Constituted by 
23* 



266 THE PREACHING OF 

nature with a lofty and delicate sense of personal 
character, and conscious before God of the unsullied 
rectitude of his conduct, he yet beheld his name cast 
out every where as evil, himself denounced as the 
ofFscouring of all things, and hunted from place to 
place as a miscreant, whom justice should not suffer 
another day to live. We which live, says he with 
touching simplicity, we which live, are always deliver- 
ed unto death, for Jesus' sake. If objections to a 
man's principles were ever made the occasion of most 
ferocious attack upon his person and character, such 
was the fact in the case of the Apostle of the Gentiles. 
Nor was this all. The apostle Paul was an erudite 
man. His mind, by nature acute, independent, and 
original, was thoroughly versed in the learning of the 
schools. He had doubtless measured intellectual 
strength at Tarsus, a city renowned for its philosophers, 
w^ith the ablest logicians of that disputatious age, and 
had borne off the honors from many a hard fought 
intellectual field. He knew his own power, and his 
contemporaries knew it. They had foreseen the rep- 
utation which awaited him while pursuing his favorite 
sciences. They knew of no literary or scientific em- 
inence to which such talents, directed by such energy, 
might not aspire. And the Apostle was perfectly 
aware of the ineffable disdain with which they must 
behold him, leaving the walks of the academy, which 
he might tread without a rival, to consort with fisher- 
men, to become a wandering outcast, and, forgetful 
of Plato and Aristotle, to go about proclaiming, to 
every one whom he met, a story about a crucified 
Jew, whom he affirmed to have come to life again. 



CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 267 

Now the Apostle had both the sagacity to perceive, 
and the sensibility to feel, the precise nature of his posi- 
tion. Hence his life was a tissue of most aggravated 
mortifications. This is what he means by the expres- 
sions, I am crucified with Christ ; I am crucified to 
the world, and the world is crucified to me. No 
forms of expression can denote a more painful self- 
devotion, than that to which the Apostle in these words 
declares that he was led, by his resolute determination, 
to preach Christ crucified. 

And all this suffering, it seems as if he might, if he 
had chosen, have avoided. With a slight modification 
of his doctrines, he might have escaped comparatively 
unharmed. Had he insisted but a little less upon the 
supreme authority of Jesus Christ, had he been willing 
to combine the law and the Gospel together as a way 
of salvation, or to be silent respecting the peculiar 
character of the death of Christ, or even to give to 
his death a less important place in the system which 
he preached, he would not have found it difficult to 
make the Gospel sufficiently palatable to a large 
portion of his Hebrew brethren. Or if, on the other 
hand, he had met the Sophists of Athens and of Tar- 
sus upon their own ground, and discoursed at large 
upon the dignity of human nature ; or had he ex- 
patiated upon the ethics of the Gospel, without either 
asserting its authority, or revealing the character 
and claims, the humiliation and exaltation of its author, 
I presume that they would have been willing to listen 
to him with all polite and decorous atiention. 

But the apostle Paul would do nothing of all this. 
He would not vary a hair's breadth from the simple 



268 THE PREACHING OF 

preaching of the Gospel of Christ, even in its most 
offensive peculiarity. Nay, this very peculiarity he 
made the most prominent theme of his discourses. 
For I delivered unto you, said he to the Corinthians, 
I delivered unto you first of all ^ that which I also re- 
ceived, how that Christ died for our sins, according 
to the Scriptures. Nay, to place the subject in the 
strongest light possible, he declares, And I, brethren, 
when I came unto you, determined not to know any 
thing among you^ save Jesus Christ and him crucified. 
Such we know to have been his determination every 
where, even unto the end. 

This exposition of the words of the text teaches us 
two very important facts ; first, that, at the time of the 
Apostle, objections were very generally urged against 
the doctrine of Christ crucified ; and secondly, that 
the apostle did not consider that these objections con- 
stituted any reason why he should not preach Christ 
crucified. 

The Jews and the Greeks, in the times of the 
Apostles, were not very dissimilar from the men of 
this present time. Those dispositions which would 
lead men to reject a system of moral truth in any one 
age, would be very likely to produce a similar result 
in every other age. And thus, in fact, do we find it. 
Now, as formerly, there are objections made to the 
doctrine of Christ crucified ; but now, as formerly, 
these objections present no valid reason why this doc- 
trine should not be preached. It is to the illustration 
of these two assertions, that I shall, in the remainder 
of this discourse, direct your attention. 



CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 269 

I. There are many objections which may be urged 
against the doctrine of Christ crucified. 

The phrase, Christ crucified, or the anointed, the 
Messiah crucified, as I have ah^eady suggested, is in- 
tended to connbine together the two ideas of the exalted 
nature and the deep humiliation of Christ Jesus. It 
is thus designed to denote the two leading features of 
the plan of redemption, which he came upon earth to 
accomplish. Some of the most important facts alluded 
to in these terms, I suppose to be the following. The 
whole race of man, in consequence of the sin of our 
first parents, having become sinners, and being thus 
exposed to the punishment denounced against sin. He, 
who was in the beginning with God, who was God, 
by whom all things were made, became flesh, that is, 
took upon him our nature ; he died for our sins ac- 
cording to the Scriptures ; by his death, or expiatory 
sacrifice, the obstacles to our pardon arising from the 
justice of God are removed, so that God can now be 
just, and yet the justifier of him that believeth in 
Jesus. Hence pardon and eternal life can be freely 
offered to all mankind ; for God so loved the world, that 
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believ- 
eth on him should not perish, but have everlasting 
life. And in confirmation of the truth of all this, the 
Messiah was raised from the dead, he ascended into 
heaven, whence he will one day come to judge both 
the quick and the dead. 

To this doctrine, a variety of objections have in 
diflferent ages been made. They may all, however, 
be reduced to two classes ; first, those which are de- 
rived from the nature of the doctrine itself; and 



270 THE PREACHING OF 

secondly, those which are drawn from the sacred 
Scriptures. By the first class of objections, it is 
intended to show that such doctrines could not be 
true ; by the second, that they are not revealed to 
us from God. It is to the first of these classes 
of objections that the Apostle refers in the text, and 
it is to this that we shall principally direct your atten- 
tion in the subsequent remarks. 

A few of these objections I shall very briefly 
enumerate. 

1. An objection is urged against what is here 
asserted respecting the original nature of Him, who is 
the author of our salvation. We suppose the doctrine 
of Christ crucified to assert of the Being, who took 
upon him our nature, that he was with God, and was 
God. Now It is said, that such a mode of existence 
as that asserted by these words, is inconceiv^able and 
impossible; and that to maintain it is absurd. 

2. Supposing the original dignity of the Messiah 
to have been such as we assert, an objection is raised 
on an exactly contrary ground. It is said, that the 
little affairs of such a world as this, are beneath such 
notice of its Creator. Specially is it said, to be in- 
credible that He, who was in the beginning with God, 
and who was God, by whom all things were made, 
should come to this insignificant province of his do- 
minions, and take upon himself such a nature, endure 
such a life, and suffer such a death. And it deserves 
to be remarked, that this objection has seemed to 
receive additional weight in later years from the 
knowledge of the vastness of the universe, as it has 
been revealed to us by the discoveries of modern 



CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 271 

astronomy. And hence it is, that this very consider- 
ation has frequently staggered, at the outset, many a 
serious inquirer after theological truth. 

3. Another objection has been urged against 
the doctrine, which asserts the union of the divine 
and human natures in the person of the Messiah. 
Such a union is declared to be impossible. It is urged 
that if this union exist, then the knowledge of the 
being must be at the same time finite and infinite; that 
either the atonement must be made simply by man, or 
that God must be a sufferer; and thus that the asser- 
tion, in what light soever it be viewed, is replete with 
contradictions. 

4. Another objection is made against that part of 
this doctrine, which asserts the fact of the substitution 
of the Messiah. It is said, that it would be unjust for 
the innocent to suffer for the guilty ; that to suppose 
God to require such a sacrifice, and to be willing to 
be reconciled to sinners upon no other terms, is to 
represent Him as an arbitrary sovereign, who delights 
in the misery of sensitive being. 

5. Again, it is said, that granting the facts to be as 
we have stated them, yet all this would fall very far 
short of an atonement for sin. It is asked, how could 
any being, in so short a time, endure the misery to 
which v/e assert that the whole race of man was 
throughout eternity exposed. And, it is said, that 
unless this misery be endured, there is in fdct no 
atonement made, and that, upon our own principles, the 
law has never yet been satisfied. 

These are some of the a priori objections most 
commonly urged against the doctrine of Christ cruci- 



1 



272 THE PREACHING OF 

fied. I do not pretend to mention them all, nor to 
state at length the arguments by which they are sup- 
ported. I present them principally as specimens of a 
class ; and I am conscious of no intention to select 
them unfairly, or to stale them incorrectly. To ex- 
hibit them more at large, would not comport with the 
design which I have in view ; specially as 1 presume 
most of you to be already sufficiently acquainted with 
them to render it unnecessary. 

II. I proceed to remark, secondly, that these ob- 
jections seem not to present any valid reason why the 
doctrine of Christ crucified should not be preached. 
The considerations which lead us to this opinion will 
now be briefly stated. 

1. The objections themselves seem to us unphilo- 
sophical. 

They proceed upon an erroneous estimate of the 
powers of the human understanding. They suppose 
us capable of deciding, by our own knowledge, upon 
such subjects as the mode of the existence of the 
Deity ; the nature and the extent of those relations 
which exist between man and his fellow creatures, 
and man and his Creator; the evil and the just desert 
of sin ; the number of modes of possible existence; the 
abstract nature of holiness in the Deity, and the ways 
in which that holiness can and cannot be exhibited 
before the created universe. Now it really does not 
seem as though any very deep reflection were neces- 
sary, in order to convince a thoughtful man that such 
subjects as these are utterly beyond the reach of the 
most highly gifted human intellect. 

But again, supposing us to be able to decide as 



CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 273 

well upon these subjects, as upon any of the affairs of 
the present life, still, objections such as we have men- 
tioned, would seem to us unphilosophical. The doc- 
trines referred to by the terms, Christ crucified, are 
merely statements of certain facts, such as that man 
has done one thing, and that God has done another, 
and for purposes which are also stated to be made 
known. Now these are all matters of fact, and are 
to be judged of simply and solely by evidence. Rea- 
sonings from our preconceived opinions, or from our 
notions of the fitness of things, can have no place here. 
The only question to be asked, in such a case, is, 
what is the evidence ? and when the answer to this 
question is given, all our other modes of reasoning bow 
down to it in entire submission. And, whenever a 
question of fact is thus settled by evidence, there it 
rests, and there it must rest forever, until the evidence 
itself CRn be invalidated. It can never be unsettled, by 
reasonings drawn from any other source. The error 
which we wish to expose, is similar to that which 
would be committed in a court of justice, if, instead 
of inquiring of competent witnesses whether a deed 
was done, we were to spend our time in arguing, at 
large and in general, whether such a deed could he or 
would be done. Such is the case here. The ques- 
tions are questions of fact ; Has such a personage as 
Jesus Christ existed ? Is there reason to believe that 
he was a messenger from Heaven, and has he revealed 
to us the facts concerning himself which are compre- 
hended under the terms, Christ crucified ? Now these 
questions are surely not to be decided by reasoning 
about what God could do, and what God could not do, 
24 



274 THE PREACHING OF 

but by an appeal to the evidence in the case, for the pur- 
pose of determining what has been done. And because 
all the objections which we have been considering, are 
manifestly at variance with this fundamental principle, 
therefore do we assert them to be unphilosophical. 

II. We consider that these objections present no 
valid reason why the doctrine of Christ crucified 
should not be preached, because we verily believe, 
the facts on which the doctrine rests to have been 
proved. 

To enter into this argument at large, would here be 
out of place. I shall only so far allude to the promi- 
nent points of the discussion as to show that, in preach- 
ing Christ crucified, we do not mean to decline, in 
behalf of our system, the most searching investigation. 

1 . It is, I suppose, to be taken for granted, that if the 
facts recorded in the New Testament respecting the 
life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ 
can be proved, then Jesus Christ was, without question, 
a messenger from Heaven, whatever he revealed is 
true, and whatever he commanded is obligatory upon 
the conscience ; and also, that, if what is recorded con- 
cerning the Apostles be proved, then, whatever they 
have delivered is both true and obligatory upon the 
conscience. 

2. There also is such a science as the science of 
evidence. By this I mean, that there are certain laws 
by which we may distinguish what is proved from what 
is not proved. That which, in accordance with these 
laws, is proved, is matter of knowledge, and we may 
rely upon it with the same assurance as we rely upon 
our knowledge acquired in any other manner. That 



CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 275 

which, according to these laws, is not proved, may be 
false, or doubtful, or in various degrees probable, but 
it can never be any thing more than mere matter of 
opinion. It cannot be believed. It cannot enter into 
the material of our knowledge. 

Now we do verily believe, that the facts recorded in 
the evangelical history, are susceptible of being fully 
proved, according to the laws ofthe science of evidence. 
We are willing to submit these facts to the most rigid 
and scientific scrutiny, and to abide the issue. They 
have been from the beginning abundantly attacked, 
and every attack has been triumphantly repelled. 
They have been a hundred times and in a hundred 
ways proved, and the proofs have never been invali- 
dated. Nay, we go further, and add, that they never 
will be invalidated, without undermining the founda- 
tions on which all history rests, and by which all our 
knowledge both of the past and the absent is substan- 
tiated. 

Now, these facts being thus established, and we 
believing them to be true, we also believe that Jesus 
Christ and his apostles were inspired by God to re- 
veal to us his will, and, therefore, we rely upon what- 
ever they taught us as ultimate truth in morals. 

Again. There is such a science as the science of 
interpretation. That is, when a sentence is correctly 
written in any language, there are laws by which it is 
possible for one who understands that language, to 
ascertain, with certainty, the meaning which the 
writer intended to convey. Were it not for the 
existence of such a science, statutes would be nu- 
gatory, treaties a mockery, and all the records of 



276 THE PREACHING OF 

the past as valueless to us as the scrawling of a 
maniac. 

Again; we suppose that, when God speaks to men, 
he speaks as men speak, and subjects his communica- 
tions to the ordinary laws of the science of interpre- 
tation. And, therefore, we believe that that sense of 
the Scriptures which is settled by these laws, is the 
true sense, and that it conveys the very idea which 
God intended to convey to us and to all men. Having 
thus ascertained this sense, we pretend not to go any 
farther. We use our reason in deciding whether or 
not a document be from God, and in deciding upon 
the meaning of what it contains. This is the true 
field for the exercise of human reason. Having thus 
ascertained what God has revealed, our only remain- 
ing duties are faith and obedience. 

Now, we do believe that the New Testament does 
declare, and that explicitly, and not by inference, the 
identical truths which are comprised under the terms, 
Christ crucified. We suppose them not only to be 
revealed in so many words, but to be interwoven with 
every other revealed doctrine. We perceive the 
whole system of revealed religion tinctured with the 
idea of an expiatory sacrifice for sin, and incapable of 
being sustained without it. We also suppose it to be 
revealed, that the whole of the Mosaic economy was 
merely a series of rites instituted to teach, by symbols, 
this grand truth, which the New Testament teaches by 
language. Such is our belief; and we are willing to 
submit it to the decisions of fair, honest, rigid, search- 
ing, thorough-going criticism, and, as we said before, 
we are willing to abide the issue. Entertaining these 



CHRIST CRUCrFIED. 277 

views, and supposing them to be sustained by such 
authority, it may well be supposed that we feel obliged 
to preach Christ crucified ; whatever objections drawn 
from the preconceived notions of men, are urged to 
the contrary notwithstanding. 

III. I remark, in the third place, these objections 
present no valid reason why we should not preach Christ 
crucified ; for they are in no manner inconsistent with 
the supposition, that the doctrines in question are true. 

1. These objections are precisely such as we should 
expect to arise, were the doctrine of Christ crucified 
true. 

Were the Deity to reveal to us any fact concerning 
the mode of his existence, it is natural to suppose that 
such fact would be to us utterly inexplicable. From 
the necessity of the case, it must be entirely beyond 
the range of our analogies ; for what two things can 
be so radically unlike, as the mode of existence in 
created and uncreated being ? 

Again, supposing that God should resolve to make 
to his creatures a manifestation of his mercy and con- 
descension, would it be surprising if this manifestation 
should as far transcend our conceptions, as that of his 
other attributes, his wisdom, his power, or his eternity ? 

Again, when the moral law, the law on which de- 
pends the happiness of the universe, was broken, if some 
peculiar effort of infinite wisdom were put forth to devise 
a plan by which we might be saved, and the honor of 
the law at the same time vindicated, it is natural to 
suppose that this plan would embrace in its detail 
much that we cannot trace, and proceed upon princi- 
ples which belong to a vastly wider generalization than 
24^ 



278 THE PREACHING OF 

we are able to comprehend. We say, therefore, that 
were these doctrines true, it is natural to suppose that 
tbey should involve much which to man, in his present 
state, must be utterly inexplicable. All that we are 
surprised at is, that any thing of this sort should, by 
any well regulated mind, be regarded in the nature of 
an objection. 

2. And, secondly, these very objections may be 
made, with equal force, against much which is uni- 
versally allowed to be incontrovertible fact. 

For instance, it is objected, as we have just remark- 
ed, that the mode of existence of the Deity, which the 
doctrine of Christ crucified reveals, involves the as- 
sertion of facts which we know not how to reconcile 
with each other. Now the same objection might be 
made, for aught we can see, against almost any mode 
of existence in nature. Who can explain the mode 
of existence of man, in such manner as to show how 
the various facts which may be asserted respecting his 
material and immaterial nature can be reconciled with 
each other ? And yet does any man, on this account, 
doubt whether or not he have a material and an imma- 
terial nature ? Now, if such be the fact, respecting 
things created, how much more respecting the uncre- 
ated Jehovah I 

Again, it is objected in substance, for in fact it 
amounts to no more than this, that the moral perfec- 
tions of Deity are manifested in the doctrine of Christ 
crucified, in a manner utterly unlike to any thing that 
we could have anticipated. But, let us remember 
that the same objection has always been made against 
every discovery of a mode in which God manifests 



CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 279 

his natural perfections. As the heavens are high 
above the earth, so are His thoughts above our 
thoughts, and His ways above our ways. Man has 
always been expecting things to be exactly as they 
were not to be, and this incessantly false expectation, 
more than any thing else, has always retarded the 
progress of philosophy. The Catholic church decided 
that God would not make the earth revolve around the 
sun, but this did not change the laws of the solar sys- 
tem. If, then, essentially the same objections which 
are urged against the doctrine of Christ crucified may 
be urged with equal force against other doctrines 
which are universally believed, these objections surely 
present no reason why we should not both believe and 
promulgate it. And yet more, if the very same ob- 
jections are made against this doctrine as are made 
against incontrovertible truth, these very objections 
would furnish ground for an analogical argument, that 
the very doctrine in question was also true. 

IV. We preach Christ crucified notwithstanding 
these objections, because we perceive its fundamental 
principles to be in perfect harmony with the highest 
and most general laws of God's moral government. 

To confirm this assertion at large would far trans- 
cend the limits which can be allotted to it here. A 
few illustrations of the general position is all that can 
be attempted. 

1. The notion of substitution is one of those ulti- 
mate ideas on which the doctrine denominated Christ 
crucified rests. Now, what is objected to, in this 
idea, is, that it supposes one person to suffer or to 
enjoy, in consequence of actions in which he himself 



280 THE PREACHING OF 

had no agency. Now if any one will reflect, he will 
easily be convinced that this is a universal law of our 
present constitution. Who had any agency in forming 
the character of his parents ? and yet whose pres- 
ent happiness or misery is not vitally affected by it ? 
Who of us had any agency in the toils and privations, 
the sufferings and dangers, the wisdom and the piety 
of the Puritans ? and yet who of us is not at this mo- 
ment reaping, in rich abundance, that harvest of which 
the Puritans sowed the seed ? What man now living 
had any agency in the introduction of the slave trade ? 
and yet what man now living is not the less happy in 
consequence of this traflic in human blood ? Now in 
harmony with this universal law of our present consti- 
tution, the Bible asserts that our w4iole race became 
sinners in consequence of the sin of Adam. Thus, 
the ruin of our whole race seemed inevitable. It was 
then that the Son of God appeared in our nature; and 
as the second Adam, availing himself of the very 
principle by which our destruction had been accom- 
plished, made an atonement for our sins, and opened 
for us a way to everlasting life. Or, to express the 
same idea in the w^ords of the Apostle, As by the 
offence of one, judgment came upon all men to con- 
demnation, even so by the righteousness of one, the 
free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 
Now all this seems to us manifestly in harmony with 
that universal law, by which every individual of our 
race suffers and enjoys, in consequence of the good or 
ill conduct of every other. 

Take another illustration. The doctrine of the 
union of the human and divine natures in one person, 



CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 281 

though mysterious, is in harmony with that other mys- 
terious connexion which exists between each one of 
us and our Creator. We are actually dependent upon 
him for every power, both physical and spiritual. In 
Him we live, and move, and have our being. I know 
not that it is possible to conceive of the production of 
a single change, without the exertion of his agency ; 
and yet every one of us is a separate, and distinct, 
and entirely accountable individual. What can be 
more inscrutable than this connexion, which actually 
exists between us and our Creator ? How is it that 
we are at the same time dependent upon God, and 
still independent of Him ? Now I do not in the least 
assert that the connexion between Deity and humanity 
in the person of the Messiah was of the same nature 
as that which exists between every one of us and God. 
I believe the very opposite. This, however, I do 
assert ] It is unreasonable to object to one mode of 
connexion, because it is incomprehensible, while every 
thought, every volition, nay, the very act of mind by 
which the objection is made, discloses another mode 
of connexion, which every man must allow to be also 
incomprehensible. 

Once more. The doctrine of Christ crucified as- 
serts that our salvation depends entirely upon the 
principle of faith. Now supposing this to be true, it 
is manifestly in perfect harmony with one of the fun- 
damental laws of the moral universe. A few words 
will suffice to render this evident. Faith, in its most 
generic sense, is a disposition of mind to act in con- 
formity to our relations to the unseen, the absent, and 
the future, just as though they were visible and present. 



282 THE PREACHING OF 

Now every thoughtful man must be fully aware that, 
in the affairs of the present life, success depends more 
upon acting in obedience to this principle than to any 
other. Here is, in fact, the dividing line between 
wisdom and folly. Now in religion, faiih, in its most 
generic sense, is the application of this principle to 
our relations to God. It is a disposition to act in 
conformity to our relations to God, as though always 
and in all his perfections he were immediately present 
to us. And more especially, faith in the Lord Jesus 
Christ is a disposition of mind to act in conformity to 
our relations towards him as our Saviour from sin, as 
though, in all his holiness and condescension, he 
were every moment before us. Laying aside every 
weight, saith the Apostle, and the sin that doth so 
easily beset us, let us run with patience the race that 
is set before us, looking unto Jesus, You see then, 
generally, how perfectly in harmony with the elemen- 
tary laws of the moral universe, are these elementary 
ideas of the system in question. 

V. Another reason why, notwithstanding the ob- 
jections which may be made against it, we preach the 
doctrine of Christ crucified, is, that it has always been 
effectual to accomplish the object which we hav^e in 
view, the moral renovation of man. 

This subject has been so frequently set before you 
by the advocates of missions, that a bare allusion to a 
few prominent facts will be sufficient for our present 
purpose. 

The earliest exhibition of the moral power of these 
doctrines was seen during the period of their first 
promulgation. At this time, this system of religion 



CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 283 

had every thing on earth to encounter. The whole 
Jewish polity, and the whole Roman power were its 
irreconcileable foes. It could only succeed by over- 
turning the very institutions of social and domestic life ; 
for these had derived their form and pressure from a 
selfish, cruel, and licentious religion. The very trades 
and occupations of life enlisted men in strenuous op- 
position to it, from the days of Demetrius, the silver- 
smith of Ephesus, onward. Yet it every where 
triumphed. It pervaded the Roman empire, devel- 
oped the principles of right, purified domestic manners, 
cultivated a spirit of universal charity, and taught men 
to triumph over this present world, by fixing their 
hopes upon a city which hath foundations, whose 
builder and maker is God. Thus commenced a new 
and distinct era in the history of man. 

Very much the same may be said of the second 
great period of the development of the power of the 
Gospel, the Protestant Reformation. It delivered the 
human mind, a second time, from a most appalling 
tyranny. From a debasing and frivolous sensuality, 
it again raised man to the high purpose and the un- 
daunted energy of him who is living for eternity. 
Wherever it entered, it again changed the hearts of 
individuals, and imbued them with the love of whatso- 
ever things are pure, and peaceable, and lovely, and 
of good report. Going onward from thence, it has 
ever since been spreading its conquests over man as 
a society. As these conquests have been extended, 
people have become free, and governments at the 
same time stable. And hence it is to the promulga- 
tion of these very doctrines that we trace the origin of 



284 THE PREACHING OF 

every civil, and intellectual, and moral blessing which 
we now enjoy. For, let it be remembered, that the 
very doctrines for which Luther specially and most 
earnestly contended were those of the sole efficacy of 
the atonement, and justification only by faith in the 
merits of a crucified Redeemer, 

Nor have later times been wanting in examples of 
the moral power of the doctrines of the cross. Within 
our own age, the Gospel has been sent to the most 
ferocious and degraded savages, and its success has 
fairly challenged the admiration of the world. It has 
formed the only ingredient of blessing which has been 
mingled in the cup which we have prepared for our 
aboriginal brethren in the West. Wherever it has 
gone, it has turned men from darkness unto light, and 
from the power of Satan unto God. Civilization, and 
the arts, equal rights, and security of property, have 
followed in its train. And all these have been the 
consequences of preaching the doctrine of a crucified 
Messiah. For we are not aware that these moral 
transformations have followed the establishment of 
Catholic missions; and of Protestants, those only who 
believe in these doctrines, have, so far as we know, 
made the experiment of promulgating their sentiments 
among the heathen. 

As philanthropists, therefore, and as practical men, 
it seems to us wise, in despite of all objections, to 
employ an agent, which so admirably accomplishes the 
purpose whichjve have in view. As philosophers also, 
we cannot escape the conclusion, that there must be 
something radically true in a moral system, which in- 
variably produces results so triumphantly right. 



CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 285 

Vl. Lastly. We insist upon the preaching of 
Christ crucified, because it is the only moral system 
which has ever proved effectual for the reformation 
of men. 

1. The various forms of Pagan religion do not 
deserve to be dignified even with the appellation of 
moral failures. From the time when the earliest 
record of Polytheism was entrusted to history, to the 
present day of Vishnu, Juggernaut and Gaudama, the 
dark places of the earth have been filled with the hab- 
itations of ignorance, cruelty, and licentiousness. 

The ethical systems of the heathen philosophers, 
when viewed in this light, were utter and absolute 
failures. They contained elaborate discussions upon 
disputed questions in morals, sometimes acute, some- 
times eloquent, though very frequently puerile; but when 
or where were they ever known to turn men from sin 
to holiness, or to virtue from vice? When did they 
ever prompt to such an enterprise ? These very sys- 
tems embosomed within themselves the elements of a 
twofold failure. First, they inspired their converts 
with no disposition to endure self-denials in the pro- 
mulgation of their principles, and, secondly, these 
principles were utterly destitute of any power by 
which a human soul might be morally transformed. 

The system of Judaism was also a decided failure. 
It did, we grant, reveal the law of God with clearness. 
It pointed by types and shadows to the way of recon- 
ciliation. It was enforced by the repeated messages 
of prophets and seers, who spake as they were moved 
by the Holy Ghost. Still, the people and the priests 
grew worse instead of better. Age after age beheld 
25 



286 THE PREACHING OF 

them becoming more and more corrupt, until, at last, 
the prophet declared that, on account of their wicked- 
ness, the name of God was blasphemed among the 
Heathen. This total failure of the Mosaic dispensa- 
tion as a means of the moral reformation of the Jews, 
is repeatedly alluded to both in the Old and the New 
Testaments. Thus it is said in the Epistle to the 
Hebrews, For if the first covenant had been faultless, 
there should no place have been sought for the second. 
But finding fault with them, he saith, Behold the days 
come, saitji the Lord, when I will make a new cove- 
nant with the house of Israel, and the house of Judah. 
Not according to my covenant which I made with 
their fathers, which covenant they broke, and 1 re- 
garded them not, saith the Lord ; but this is the cov- 
enant that I will make, — I w^ill put my laws in their 
mind, and write them in their hearts, and I will be to 
them a God, and they shall be to me a people. 

Since the first promulgation of the doctrine of 
Christ crucified, various modifications of it have, as 
we conceive, been preached in its place. These have 
all failed of accomplishing the moral reformation of man. 

Romanism retaining the doctrine of the depravity 
of man, excluded that of justification by faith in the 
merits of the Lord Jesus Christ, and substituted in its 
room the notion of a pardon through the merits of the 
church, to be administered solely and exclusively by 
the priesthood. It is merely history to state, that no 
system of religion, either before or since, has ever 
been justly responsible for such universality and 
atrocity of guilt ; or has ever crushed the human race 
with so remorseless and desolating a tyranny. 



CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 287 

Romanism is replete with a terrific energy to evil. 
The other modifications of what we consider the doc- 
trine of Christ crucified, seem, on the contrary, to 
fail from their own innate moral imbecility. Take 
away the doctrine of the atonement, still retaining the 
authority of revelation, and what have we but Judaism, 
nay, Judaism deprived of its gorgeous and not inope- 
rative means of appealing to the imagination? a system 
which, when in all its glory, proved utterly unable to 
control an age much more controllable than the pres- 
ent. Take away the supreme authority of revelation,, 
and decide upon what the Bible shall teach, by the 
light of human reason, and what have we but the re- 
ligion of nature, the systems of the Grecian schools, 
the teachings of pagan philosophers? Of the failure 
of these it is hardly proper to speak, as they never 
possessed sufficient energy to attempt the moral refor- 
malion, even of the communities in which they origi- 
nated. Or, if we deny that the desert and the punish- 
ment of sin are such as they are represented to be in 
the doctrine of Christ crucified, we find ourselves at 
variance with all moral analogies, and with the most 
demonstrable principles of ethics ; it will be well 
if we do not plunge at once into the grossest epicuri- 
anism, and surrender up mankind without any con- 
trolling power, to the headlong goadings of ungovern- 
able passion. 

Again ; while we retain in theory the doctrine of 
Christ crucified, we may utterly neglect to preach it. 
Thus we may easily find a variety of propositions, 
which express, what we suppose to be of necessity 
either the antecedents or the consequents of the facts 



288 THE PREACHING OF 

of the Gospel ; and we may promulgate them with 
the aciiteness of schoolmen and the resolution of mar- 
tyrs. The doctrine of the cross may thus become an 
admirable occasion for the acquisition of intellectual 
discipline. But what are the effects of all this labor ? 
Sinners are no longer converted, spiritual apathy over- 
spreads the church, and the still small voice of the 
Spirit is unheeded amid the din of angry polemics. 

Or we may err from the simplicity of the truth in 
an opposite manner. Instead of preaching the Gospel 
as it is, we may select particular portions of it, and 
use them as the groundwork of an appeal to the im- 
agination and the sensitiveness of men. We may 
thus create violent agitation, excessive joy, intense 
activity; but they quickly pass away, and leave behind 
them no vestige of the fruits of the Spirit. Just as 
we forsake the preaching of the doctrines of the cross 
in their unadulterated simplicity, will the permanent 
effects of our ministrations decrease, until, whilst we 
may produce all the excitement of tragedy, we leave 
at last quite as transient an impression. 

Here 1 am aware that I shall be met by the question, 
Is not good done by all these modes of exhibiting 
what are supposed to be truths of religion? I answer, 
yes. They all exhibit some truth, and all truth is 
valuable. But I ask, what then ? Do they accomplish 
the good, which the Gospel was intended to accom- 
plish. If not, it is to no purpose to allege that they 
do good. The Gospel is too valuable to be used to 
accomplish any other good than that for which God 
specially designed it. A dwelling house if consumed 
might be very useful for ashes ; but this would be a 



CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 289 

very insufficient reason for setting it on fire. It has 
other more important uses to accomplish. An IsraeHte 
in the wilderness (lying by the bite of the fiery serpents, 
might have been relieved by a draught of water, or, if 
you please, it would have done him good ; but how 
much better would it have been to direct his eyes to 
the brazen symbol, and thus cure at once both the 
thirst itself and also the disease in which that thirst 
originated. 

I have thus endeavored to show, that notwithstand- 
ing the objections which are made to the preaching of 
Christ crucified, we feel justified in preaching it. 
1st. Because we consider these objections themselves 
to be unphilosophical. 2d. Because we believe the 
doctrines thus denominated to be true. 3d. Because 
the objections themselves are entirely in harmony with 
the supposition that the doctrine is true. 4th. Because 
the elementary truths of this doctrine are in har- 
mony with the elementary laws of the present moral 
constitution. 5th. Because the promulgation of them 
has ever been effectual in accomplishing the moral 
reformation of men. And 6th. Every other moral 
system has utterly failed in the attempt to produce 
this result. I hasten to conclude this already pro- 
tracted discussion by a few brief remarks. 

From the above considerations it will be readily 
perceived, that objections, drawn from what we may 
consider the nature of things, are misapplied when 
urged against the facts which claim to be revealed in 
the Scriptures, The only questions to be discussed 
are, first. Are the Scriptures true ? and, secondly. What 
do the Scriptures teach ? The one question is to be 
25^ 



290 THE PREACHING OF 

answered by the science of evidence, and the other 
by the science of interpretation. Here is the ground 
and the only ground for argument. To these points 
let the disbeliever in these doctrines direct his attacks, 
and these points let the believer be prepared to defend. 
When this shall have been done, we may hope to see this 
controversy brought to a definite and decisive issue. 

2. Let us who profess to believe the doctrine of 
Christ crucified preach it every where, on all occasions, 
and under all circumstances. This doctrine and this 
only possesses that divine energy by which men are 
to be converted unto God. We may be considered 
illiberal, prejudiced, obtuse of intellect ; but let us not 
be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power 
of God unto salvation. We believe it to be truth, and 
if it be truth it is great and must prevail. With kind- 
ness and charity, and yet in simplicity and fidelity, let 
us resolve to know nothing among men but Jesus 
Christ and him crucified. 

3. Nor in all this is there any sectarianism. We 
believe these doctrines to be true, and suppose our- 
selves able to show them to be so. We esteem them 
vitally important to the temporal and to the eternal 
interests of men. As intelligent beings, we have a 
right to promulgate them as widely as we choose, and 
to convince of their truth as many as we are able. 
It will be sectarianism whenever we underrate the 
talents, disparage the motives, curtail the influence, or 
violate in the slightest manner the rights of those who 
differ from us. But if we do none of this, it is no 
sectarianism by fair argument to give to our sentiments 
all the influence in our power. We cheerfully concede 



CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 291 

to Others the right which we claim for ourselves. If 
our claim be allowed, we rejoice; but if not, we must 
be pardoned if, as we suppose in obedience to God, we 
still preach Christ and him crucified. 

I close by expressing my devout hope that these 
doctrines, in all their power and all their efficacy, may 
ever be preached within these consecrated walls. 
May my brother who is now to be set over you in the 
Lord, always delight to make the doctrines of a cru- 
cified Messiah the sum and the substance of his min- 
istrations. May you all be so blest as to receive 
them in love, and to become doers of the word, and 
not hearers only; and may this whole congregation be 
given unto their pastor, as the seals of his ministry in 
the day of the Lord Jesus. Amen. 



DISCOURSE ON EDUCATION. 



In the long train of her joyous anniversaries. New 
England has yet beheld none more illustrious than 
this. We have assembled to-day, not to proclaim 
how well our fathers have done, but to inquire how 
we may enable their sons to do belter. We meet, 
not for the purposes of empty pageant, nor yet of 
national rejoicing ; but to deliberate upon the most suc- 
cessful means for cultivating, to its highest perfection, 
that invaluable amount of intellect, which Divine 
Providence has committed to our charge. We have 
come up hither to the city of the Pilgrims, to ask how 
we may render their children most worthy of their an- 
cestors, and most pleasing to their God. We meet to 
give to each other the right hand of fellowship, in 
carrying forward this all-important work, and here to 
leave our professional pledge, that, if the succeeding 
generation do not act worthily, the guilt shall not rest 
upon those who are now the Instructers of New 
England. 



DISCOURSE ON EDUCATION. 293 

Well am I aware that the occasion is worthy of the 
choicest effort of the highest talent in the land. Sin- 
cerely do I regret, that upon such talent the duty of 
addressing you this day had not devolved. Much do 
I also regret, that sudden indisposition has deprived 
me of that time which had been set apart to meet the 
demands of the present occasion, and that I am only 
able to offer for your consideration such reflections as 
have been snatched from the most contracted leisure, 
and gleaned amid the hurried hours of languid conva- 
lescence. But I bring, as an offering to the cause of 
Education, a mind deeply penetrated with a conviction 
of its surpassing importance, and enthusiastically ardent 
in anticipating the glory of its ultimate results. I 
know, then, that I may liberally presume upon your 
candor, while I rise to address those, to very many 
of whom it were far more beseeming that I humbly 
listened. 

The subject which I have chosen for our mutual 
improvement, is, the object of intellectual ed- 
ucation; AND THE MANNER IN WHICH THAT OBJECT 
IS TO BE ATTAINED. 

1. It hath pleased Almighty God to place us under 
a constitution of universal law. By this we mean, 
that nothing, either in the physical, intellectual, or 
moral world, is in any proper sense contingent. 
Every event is preceded by its regular antecedents, 
and followed by its regular consequents ; and hence 
is formed that endless chain of cause and effect which 
binds together the innumerable changes which are 
taking place every where around us. 

When we speak of this system as subjected to uni 



294 DISCOURSE ox 

versal law, we mean all this ; but this is not all that we 
mean. The term law, in a higher sense, is applied to 
beings endowed with conscience and will, and there is 
then attached, to it the idea of rewards and punishments. 
It is used in this sense to signify a constitution so ar- 
ranged, that one course of action shall be inevitably 
productive of happiness, and another course shall be 
inevitably productive of misery. Now, in this higher 
sense, is it strictly and universally true, that we are 
placed under a constitution of law. Every action 
which we perform, is as truly amenable as inert matter, 
to the great principles of the government of the uni- 
verse, and every action is chained to the consequences 
which the Creator has affixed to it, as unalterably as 
any sequence of cause and effect in physics. And 
thus, with equal eloquence and tmth, the venerable 
Hooker has said, ' Of Law, there can be no less ac- 
knowledged, than that her seat is the bosom of God, 
her voice the harmony of the world ; all things in 
heaven and earth do her homage ; the very least as 
feeling her care, and the very greatest as not exempted 
from her power ; both angels and men and creatures of 
what condition soever, though each in different sort and 
manner, yet all with uniform consent, admiring her as 
the mother of their peace and joy.' 

Such a constitution having been established by a 
perfectly wise Creator, it may well be supposed that it 
will remain unchangeable. His laws will not be altered 
for our convenience. We may obey them or disobey 
them, we may see them or not see them, we may be 
wise or unwise ; but they will be rigidly and unalterably 



EDUCATION. 295 

enforced. Thus must it ever be, until we have the 
power to resist the strength of omnipotence. 

Again ; it is sufficiently evident that the very con- 
stitution which God has established, is, with infinite 
wisdom and benevolence, devised for just such a being, 
physical, intellectual, and moral, as man. By obedi- 
ence to the laws of God, man may be as happy as his 
present state will allow. Misery is always the result 
of a violation of some of the laws which the Creator 
has established. Hence, our great business here, is, 
to know and obey the laws of our Creator, 

That part of man by which we know, and, in the 
most important sense, obey the laws of the Creator, is 
called MIND. I use the Vv'ord in its general sense, to 
signify, not merely a substance, not matter, capable of 
intellection, but one also capable of willing, and to 
which is attached the responsibility of right and wrong 
in human action. It is one of the laws of this substance, 
that increased power for the acquisition of knowledge, 
and a more universal disposition to obedience, may be 
the result either of the action of one individual upon 
another, or, of the well-directed efforts of the individual 
mind upon itself. 

Without some knowledge of the laws of nature, it is 
evident that man would immediately perish. But it is 
possible for him to have only so much knowledge of 
them as will barely keep generation after generation in 
existence, without either adding anything to the stock 
of intellectual acquisition, or subjecting to his use any 
of the various agents wh.ich a bountiful Piovidcnce lias 
everywhere scattered around, for the suj)i)ly of his 
wants and the relief of his necessities. Such was tlic 



296 DISCOURSE ON 

case with the Aborigines of our country, and such had 
it been for centuries. Such, also, with but very few 
and insignificant exceptions, is the case in Mohammedan 
and Pagan countries. The sources of their happiness 
are few and intermpted ; those of their misery, muUi- 
pHed and perpetual. 

Looking upon such nations as these, we should in- 
voluntarily exclaim, What a waste of being, what a loss 
of happiness, do we behold ! Here are intelligent 
creatures, placed under a constitution devised by Infinite 
Wisdom for the purpose of promoting their happiness. 
The very penalties which they suffer, are so many 
proofs of the divine goodness — mere monitions to direct 
them in the paths of obedience. And beside this, they 
are endowed with a mind perfectly formed to investigate 
and discover these laws, and to derive its highest plea- 
sure from obeying them. Yet that mind, from want of 
culture, has become useless. It achieves no conquests. 
It removes no infelicities. Here, then, must the rem- 
edy be applied. This immaterial part must be excited 
to exertion, and must be trained to obedience. Just 
so soon as this process is commenced, a nation begins 
to emerge from the savage, and to enter upon the civ- 
ilized state. Just in proportion to the freedom and the 
energy with which the powers of the mind are devel- 
oped, and to the philosophical humility with which they 
are exercised, does a people advance in civilization. 
Just in proportion as a people is placed under contrary 
influences, is its movement retrograde. 

Education is that science which teaches us how to 
foster these energies of mind. In few words, I would 
say, the object of the science of Education, is, to render 



EDUCATION. 297 

mind the fittest possible instrument for discovering, 
APPLYING, and OBEYING, the laws under which God 
has placed the universe. 

That all this is necessary, in order to carry forward 
the human species to the degree of happiness which it 
is destined, at some time or other, to attain, may be 
easily shown. 

The laws of the universe must be discovered. Until 
they are discovered, we shall be continually violating 
them, and suffering the penalty, without either possibil- 
ity of rescue or hope of alleviation. Hence the multi- 
tude of bitter woes which ignorance inflicts upon a 
people. Hence the interest which every man should 
take in the progress of knowledge. Who can tell how 
countless are the infelicities which have been banished 
from the world, by the discovery of the simple law that 
a magnetized needle, when freely suspended, will point 
to the north and south ! 

Nor is it sufiicient that a law be discovered. Its 
relations to other laws must be ascertained, and the 
means devised by which it may be made to answer the 
purposes of human want. This is called application^ 
or invention. The law of the expansive power of 
steam was discovered by the Marquis of Worcester, in 
1663. It remained, however, for the inventive genius 
of Watt and Fulton, more than a century afterwards, 
to render it subservient to the happiness of man. From 
want of skill in a single branch of this department of 
mental labor, the human race has frequently been kept 
back for ages. The ancients, for instance, came very 
near to the invention of the printing jiress. Thus has 
it been with several other of the most valuable iiivcn- 
26 



398 DISCOURSE ON 

tions. It makes a thoughtful man sad, at the present 
day, to observe how many of the most important agents 
of nature we are obHged to expose to the gaze of lec- 
ture-rooms, without being able to reveal a single prac- 
tical purpose for which they were created. 

But this is not all. A man may know a law of his 
Creator, and understand its application ; but if he do 
not ohey it, he will neither reap the reward, nor escape 
the penalty, which the Creator has annexed to it. 
Here we enter, at once, into the mysterious region of 
human will, of motive, and of conscience. To examine 
it at present, is not my design. I will only remark, 
that some great improvement is necessary in this part 
of our nature, before we can ever reap the benefits of 
the present constitution of the universe. 1 do not think 
that any philosopher can escape the conviction, that 
when important truth is the subject of inquiry, we 
neither possess the candor of judgment, nor the humility 
of obedience, which befits the relations existing between 
a creature and his Creator. In proof of this, it is suf- 
ficient to refer to well know facts. Gahleo suffered 
the vengeance of tlie Inquisition, for declaring the sun 
to be the centre of the planetary system 1 How slow 
were the learned in adopting the discoveries of Harvey, 
or of Newton ! Still more visible is this obstinacy, 
when the application of a moral law is clearly discover- 
ed. Though supported by incontrovertible argument, 
how slowly have the principles of religious toleration 
gained foothold even in the civilized world ! After the 
slave trade had been proved contrary to every principle 
both of reason and of conscience, and at variance with 
every law of the Creator, for nearly twenty years did 



EDUCATION. 299 

Clarkson and his associates labor, before they could 
obtain the act for its abolition. And, to take an illus- 
tration from nearer home, — how coolly do we look on 
and behold lands, held by mi question able charter from 
Almighty God, in defiance of an hundred treaties by 
which the faith of this country has been pledged, — in 
violation of every acknowledged law, human and divine, 
wrested from a people, by whose forbearance, a century 
ago, our fathers were permitted to exist ! I speak 
not the language of party. I eschew and abhor it ; 
but ' I speak with the freedom of history, and, I hope, 
without offence.' These examples are sufficient at 
least to show us, that the mind of man is not, at pres- 
ent, the fittest instrument possible for obeying the law^s 
of his Creator, and that there is need, therefore, of that 
science, which shall teach him to become such an in- 
strument. 

The question which next arises, is this : — Can these 
things be taught ? Is it practicable, by any processes 
which man can devise, to render mind a fitter instru- 
ment for discovering, applying and obeying the laws of 
his Creator ? We shall proceed, in the next place, to 
show that all this is practicable. 

1 . It is practicable to train the mind to greater 
skill in discovery, A few facts will render this suffi- 
ciently evident. 

It will not be denied that some modes of thinking 
are better adapted to the discovery of truth than others. 
Those trains of thought which follow the order of cause 
and effect, premises and conclusion, or, in general, 
what is considered the order of the understanding, are 
surely more likely to result in discovery, than those 



300 DISCO URSE ox 

which follow the order of the casual relations, as of 
timC; place, resemblance and contrast, or, as it is com- 
monlv called, the order of the imagination. Discovery 
is the fruit of patient thought, and not of impetuous 
combination. Now it must be evident that mind, di- 
rected in the train of the understanding, will be a far 
better instrument of discovery than if under the guid- 
ance of the imagination. And it is evident that the 
one mode of thinking may be as well cultivated as the 
other, or as any mode whatsoever. And hence has 
arisen the mighty effect which Bacon produced upon 
the world. He allured men from the weaving of day- 
dreams, to the employment of their reason. Just in 
proportion as we acquire skill in the use of our reason, 
will be the progress of truth. 

Again ; there can be no doubt that, in consequence 
of the teaching of Bacon, or, in other words, in conse- 
quence of improvement in education, the human mind 
has, in fact, become a vastly more skilfril instrument of 
discovery than ever it was before. In proof of this, I 
do not refer merely to the fact, that more power has 
been gained over the agents of nature, and that they 
have been made to yield a gi'eater amount of human 
happiness to the human race, withm the last one liun- 
dred years, than for ten tmies that period before. This, 
of itself, would be sufficient to show an abundant 
increase of intellectual activity. I would also refer to 
the fact that several of the most remarkable discoveries 
have been made by different men at the same time. 
This would seem to show, that mind m the ao^o^recrate 
was mo\ing forward, and that everything with which 
we are now acquainted must soon have been discovered, 



EDUCATION. 301 

even if it had eluded the sagacity of those who were 
fortunate enough to observe it. This shows that the 
power of discovery has ah^eady been in some degree 
increased by education. What has been so auspiciously 
begun, can surely be carried to far greater perfection. 

Again ; if we inquire what are those attributes of 
mind on which discovery mainly depends, I think we 
shall find them to be, patient observation, acute dis- 
crimination, and cautious induction. Such were the 
intellectual traits of Newton, that prince of modern 
philosophers. Now it is evident that these attributes 
can be cultivated, as well as those of taste or imagina- 
tion. Hence, it seems as evident that the mind may 
be trained to discovery, that is, that mind may be so 
disciplined as to be able to ascertain the particular laws 
of any individual substance, as that any other thing 
may be done. 

2. By application, or invention, I mean the con- 
triving of those combinations by w^hich the already 
discovered laws of the universe, may be rendered 
available to the happiness of man. It is possible to 
render the mind a fitter instrument for the accompHsh- 
ment of this purpose. 

In proof of this remark, I may refer you to the two 
considerations to which I have just adverted ; namely, 
that some trains of thought are more productive of 
invention than others, and that, by following those 
trains, greater progress has, within a few years, been 
made in invention, than within ten times that period 
before. 

It is proper, however, to remark, that the qualities 
of mind on which invention depends, are somewhat 
26^ 



302 DISCOURSE ox 

dissimilar from those necessary to discovery. Invention 
depends upon accuracy of knowledge in detail, as well 
as in general, and a facility for seizing upon distant and 
frequently recondite relations. Discovery has more to 
do with the simple quality, invention with the complex 
connexions. Discovery views truth in the abstract ; 
invention views it, either in connexion with other truth, 
or in its relation to other beings. Hence has it so fre- 
quently taken place, that philosophers have been unable 
to avail themselves of their own discoveries ; or, in 
other words, that the powers of discovery and of in- 
vention are so seldom combined in the same individ- , 
ual. In one thing, however, they agree. Both de- 
pend upon powers of mind capable of cultivation ; and, 
therefore, both are susceptible of receiving benefit 
beyond any assignable degree, by the progress of edu- 
cation. 

3. The mind may be rendered a fitter instrument 
for obeying the laws of the universe. This will be 
accomplished, when men, first, are better acquainted 
with the laws of the universe, and secondly, when they 
are better disposed to obey them. That both of these 
may be accomplished, scarcely needs illustration. 

For, first, I surely need not consume your time to 
prove, that a much greater amount of knowledge of 
the laws of the universe might be communicated in a 
specified time, than is communicated at present. Im- 
provement in this respect depends upon two facts : — 
first, greater skill may be acquired in teaching; and 
second, the natural progress of the sciences is towards 
simplification. As they are improved, the more proxi- 
mate relations of things are discovered, the media are 



EDUCATION. 3Q3 

rendered clearer, and the steps in the Illustration of 
truth less numerous. The more a man knows of the 
laws of his Creator, the more perfect may be his obe- 
dience. 

And, secondly, those dispositions which oppose our 
obedience, may be corrected. Candor may be made 
to take the place of prejudice, and envy may be ex- 
changed for a generous love of truth. A good teacher 
frequently produces this result now. And that the 
Gospel of Jesus Christ does present a most surprismg 
cure for those dispositions, which oppose the progress 
of truth, and interfere with our obedience to the moral 
laws of our being, no one, who, at the present day, 
looks upon the human race with the eye of a philoso- 
pher, can with any semblance of candor venture to 
deny. 

It would not be difficult, did time permit, by an 
examination of the various laws, physical, intellectual, 
and moral, under which we are placed, to show that 
the principles which I have been endeavouring to illus- 
trate, are universal, and apply to every possible action 
of the most eventful life. It could thus be made to 
appear, that all the happiness of man is derived from 
discovering, applying, or obeying the laws of his 
Creator, and that all his misery is the result of igno- 
rance or disobedience ; and, hence, that the good of 
the species can be permEinently promoted, and perma- 
nently promoted only, by the accomplishment of that 
which I have stated to be the object of education. 

1 have thus far endeavoured to show^, from our situa- 
tion as just such creatures, namely, creatures subject to 
laws of which we come into tlie world ignorant, and 



304 DISCOURSE ON 

laws which can only be known by a mind possessed of 
acquired power, that there is, in our present state, the 
need of such a science as that of education. I have 
endeavoured to show what is its object, and also to 
show that that object may be accomplished. I will 
now take leave of this part of the subject, with a few 
remarks upon the relation which this science sustains 
to other sciences. 

1. If the remarks already made have the least 
foundation in truth, we do not err in claiming for edu- 
tion the rank of a distinct science. It has its distinct 
subject, its distinct object, and is governed by its own 
laws. And, moreover, it has, like other sciences, its 
corresponding art, — the art of teaching. Now if this 
be so, we would ask how any man should understand 
this science, any more than that of mathematics or 
astronomy, without ever having studied it, or having 
even thought about it ? If there be any such art as 
the art of teaching, we ask how it comes to pass that a 
man shall be considered fully quahfied to exercise it, 
without a day's practice, when a similar attempt in any 
other art would expose him to ridicule ? Henceforth, 
I pray you, let the ridicule be somewhat more justly 
distributed. 

2. The connexions of this science are more exten- 
sive than those of any other. Almost any one of the 
other sciences may flourish independently of the rest. 
Rhetoric may be carried to high perfection, whilst the 
mathematics are in their infancy. Physical science 
may advance, whilst the science of interpretation is 
stationary. No science, however, can be independent 
of the science of education. By education their tri- 



EDUCATION. 



305 



umphs are made known ; by education alone can their 
triumphs be multiphed. 

Hence, thirdly, it is upon education that the progress 
of all other sciences depends. A science is a compila- 
tion of the laws of the universe on one particular sub- 
ject. Its progress is marked by the number of these 
laws which it reveals, and the multiplicity of their rela- 
tions which it unfolds. Now we have before shown, 
that the number of laws which are discovered, will be 
in proportion to the skill of mind, the instrument which 
is to discover them. Hence, just in proportion to the 
progress of the science of education, will be the power 
which man obtains over nature, the extent of his 
knowledge of the laws of the universe, and the abun- 
dance of means of happiness which he enjoys. 

If this be so, it would not seem arrogant to claim for 
education the rank of the most important of the sci- 
ences, excepting only the science of morals. And, 
hence, we infer, that it presents subjects vast enough, 
and interests grave enough, to task the highest effort of 
the most gifted intellect, in the full vigor of its powers. 
Is it not so ? If it be so, on what principle of common 
sense is it, that a man is considered good enough for a 
teacher, because he has most satisfactorily proved him- 
self good for no one thing else ? Why is it, that the 
utter want of sufficient health to exercise any other 
profession, is frequently the only reason why a man 
should be thrust into this, which requires more active 
mental labor in the discharge of its duties, than any 
other profession whatsoever ? Alas ! it is not by 
teachers such as these, that the intellectual power of a 
people is to be created. To hear a scholar say a Ics- 



306 DISCOURSE ON 

son, is not to educate him. He who is not able to 
leave his mark upon a pupil, never ought to have a 
pupil. Let it never be forgotten, that, in the thrice 
resplendent days of the intellectual glory of Greece, 
teachers were in her high places. Isocrates, Plato, 
Zeno, and Aristotle were, without question, stars of the 
first magnitude, in that matchless constellation, which 
still surrounds with undiminished effulgence the name 
of the city of jMinerva. 

And lastly, if the science of education be thus im- 
portant, is it not worthy of public patronage ? Knowl- 
edge of every sort is valuable to a community, very far 
beyond what it costs to produce it. Hence it is for the 
interest of every man to furnish establishments by which 
knowledge can be increased. Of the manner in which 
this should be afforded, it belongs to political economists 
to treat. Let me suggest only a very few hints on the 
subject. Books are the repositories of the learning of 
past ages. Longer time than that of an individuars 
life, and greater wealth than falls to the lot of teachers, 
are required to collect them in numbers sufficient for 
extensive usefulness. The same may be said of in- 
struments for philosophical research. Let these be 
furnished, and furnished amply. Let your instructors 
have the use of them, if you please, gratuitously ; and 
if you do not please, not gratuitously, and then, on the 
principles which govern all other labor, let every teach- 
er, like every other man, take care of himself. Give 
to every man prominent and distinct individuality. 
Remove all the useless barriers which shelter him from 
the full and direct effect of public opinion. Let it be 
supposed, that, by becoming a teacher, he has not lost 



EDUCATION. 307 

all pretensions to common sense ; but that he may 
possibly know as much about his own business as those, 
who, by confession, know nothing at all about it. In 
a word, make teaching the business of men, and you 
will have men to do the business of teaching. I know 
not that the cause of education, so far as teachers are 
concerned, requires any other patronage. 

I come now to the second part of the subject, which, 
I am aware, it becomes me to treat with all possible 
brevity. 

II. In what manner shall mind be rendered a fitter 
instrument to answer the purposes of its creation ? 

To answer this question, let us go back a little. We 
have shown that the present constitution of things is 
constructed for man, and that man is constructed for 
the present constitution. As mind, then, is the instru- 
ment by which he avails himself of the laws of that 
constitution, it may be supposed that it was endowed 
with all the powers necessary to render it subservient 
to his best interests. Were it possible, therefore, it 
would be useless to attempt to give it any additional 
faculties. All that is possible, is, either to cultivate in 
the most perfect manner those faculties which exist, or 
to vary their relations to each other. In otlier words, 
to cultivate to the utmost the original faculties of the 
mind, is to render it the fittest possible instrument for 
discovering, applying, and obeying the laws of its crea- 
tion. 

This is, however, an answer to the question in the 
abstract, and without any regard to time. But the 
question to us, is not an abstract question ; it has regard 
to time. That is to say, we do not ask simply what 



308 DISCOURSE ox 

is the best mode of cultivating mind, but what is the 
best mode of doing it now, when so many ages have 
elapsed, and so many of the laws of the universe have 
been discovered. Much knowledge has already been 
acquired by the human race, and this knowledge is to 
be communicated to the pupil. 

All this every one sees, at first glance, to be true. 
Nearly all the time spent in pupilage, under the most 
favourable circumstances, is in fact employed in the 
acquisition of those laws which have been already dis- 
covered. Without a knowledge of them, education 
would be almost useless. Without it, there could 
evidently be no progressive improvement of the species. 
Education, considered in this hght alone, has very 
many and very important ends to accomphsh. It is 
desirable that the pupil should be tauo^ht thoroughly ; 
that is, that he should have as exact and definite a 
knowledge as possible of the law and of its relations. 
It is desirable that he be taught permanently ; that is, 
that the truth communicated be so associated with his 
other knowledge, that the lapse of time will not easily 
erase it from his memory. It is important, also, that 
no more time he consumed in the process than is abso- 
lutely necessary. He who occupies two years in 
teaching what might as well with a little more industry 
be taught in one year, does a far greater injury than 
he would do by simply abridging his pupil's life by a 
year. He not only abstracts fi'om his pupil's acquisi- 
tion that year's improvement, but all the knowledge 
which would have been the fruit of it for the remainder 
of his being. 

If, then, all that portion of our time which is devoted 



EDUCATION. 309 

to education must be occupied in acquiring the laws of 
the universe, how shall opportunity be aflbrded for 
cultivating the original powers of the mind ? 

I answer, an all-wise Creator has provided for this 
necessity of our intellectual nature. His laws, in this, 
as in every other case, are in full and perfect harmony. 

For, first, the original powers of the mind are culti- 
vated by use. This law, I believe, prevails in respect 
to all our powers, physical, intellectual, and moral. 
But improvement results from the use of each several 
faculty. The improvement of the memory does not, 
of necessity, strengthen the power of discrimination ; 
nor does the imjprovement of logical acuteness, of neces- 
sity, add sensibility to the taste. The law on this sub- 
ject seems to be, that every several faculty is strength- 
ened and rendered more perfect, exactly in proportion 
as it is subjected to habitual and active exercise. 

And, secondly, it will be found that the secret of 
teaching most thoroughly, permanently, and in the 
shortest time ; that is, of giving to the pupil in a given 
time the greatest amount of knowledge, consists in so 
teaching as to give the most active exercise to the orig- 
inal faculties of the mind. So that it is perfectly true, 
that if you wish so to teach as to make the mind the 
fittest possible instrument for discovering, applying, and 
obeying the laws of the Creator, you would so teach 
as to give to the mind the greatest amount of knowledge ; 
and, on the contrary, if you wished so to teach as to 
give to a pupil, in a given time, the greatest amount of 
knowledge, you would so teach as to render his mind 
the fittest instrument for discovering, applying, and 
obeying the laws of its Creator. 
27 



310 DISCOURSE ON 

I do not forget that the discussion of the practical 
business of teaching is, on this occasion, committed to 
other hands. You will, however, 1 trust, allow^ me to 
suggest here, one or two principles which seem to me 
common to all teaching, and which are in their nature 
calculated to produce the results to which I have referred. 

1 . Let a pupil understand every thing w^hich we 
desicm to teach him. If he cannot understand a thino; 
this year, it was not designed by his Creator that he 
should learn it this year. But let it not be forgotten, 
that precisely here is seen the power of a skilful teacher. 
It is his business to make a pupil, if possible, understand. 
Very few^ things are incapable of being understood, if 
they be reduced to their ultimate elements. Hence 
the reason w4iy the power of accurate and natural anal- 
ysis is so invaluable to a teacher. By simplification 
and patience, it is astonishing to observe how easily 
abstruse subjects m^ay be brought within the grasp of 
the faculties even of children. Let a teacher, then, 
first understand a subject himself. Let him know that 
he understands it. Let him reduce it to its natural 
divisions and its simplest elements. And then, let him 
see that his pupils understand it. This is the first step. 

2. I would recommend the frequent repetition of 
wiiatever has been acquired. For w^ant • of this, an 
almost incalculable amount of invaluable time is annually 
wasted. Who of us has not forgotten far more than 
all which he at present knows ? What is understood 
to-day, may with pleasure be reviewed to-morrow. If 
it be frequently reviewed, it will be associated with all 
our other knowledge, and be thoroughly engraven on 
the memory. If it be laid aside for a month, it will be 



EDUCATION. 3JJ 

almost as difficult to recover it as to acquire a new truth • 
and it will be, moreover, destitute of the interest derived 
from novelty. If this be the case with us generally, I 
need not say how pecuharly the remark applies to the 
young. 

But lastly, and above all, let me insist upon the im- 
portance of the universal practice of every thing that is 
learned. No matter whether it be a rule in arithmetic, 
or a rule in grammar, a principle in rhetoric, or a the- 
orem in the mathematics ; as soon as it is learned and 
understood, let it be put into practice. Let exercises 
-be so devised as to make the pupil familiar with its 
application. Let him construct exercises himself. 
Let him not leave them, until he knows that he under- 
stands both the law^ and its application, and is able to 
make use of it freely and without assistance. The mind 
never will derive power in any other w^ay. Nor will 
it, in any other way, attain to the dignity of certain, 
and practical science. 

So far as w^e have gone, then, we have endeavored 
to show that the business of a teacher is, so to commu- 
nicate knowledge as most constantly and vigorously to 
exercise the original faculties of the mind. Li this 
manner, he will both convey the greatest amount of 
instruction, and create the largest amount of mental 
power. 

I intended to confirm these remarks, by a reference 
to the modes of teaching some of the most important 
branches of science. But I fear that I should exhaust 
your patience, and also that I might anticipate what 
will be much better illustrated by those who will come 
after me. I shall, therefore, conclude by applying these 



312 DISCOURSE ON 

considerations to tlie elucidation of some subjects of 
general importance. 

1. If these remarks be true, they show us in what 
manner text books ought to be constructed. They 
should contain a clear exhibition of the subject, its limits 
and relations. They should be arranged after the most 
perfect method, so that the pupil may easily survey the 
subject in all its ramifications ; and should be furnished 
with examples for practice to illustrate every principle 
which they contain. It should be the design of the 
author to make such a book as could neither be studied 
unless the pupil understood it, nor taught unless the 
instructer understood it. Such books, in every depart- 
ment, are, if I mistake not, very greatly needed. 

If this be true, what are we to think of many of those 
school books which are beginning to be very much in 
vogue amongst us? There first appears, perhaps, an 
abridgement of a scientific text book. Then, lest 
neither instructer nor pupil should be able to understand 
it, without assistance, a copious analysis of each page, 
or chapter, or section, is added in a second and im- 
proved edition. Then, lest, after all, the instructer 
should not know what questions should be asked, a 
copious list of these is added to a third and still more 
improved edition. The design of this sort of work 
seems to be to reduce all mental exercise to a mere 
act of the memory, and then to render the necessity 
even for the use of this faculty as small as may be pos- 
sible. Carry the principle but a little farther, and an 
automaton w^ould answer every purpose exactly as well 
as an instructer. Let us put away all these miserable 
helps, as fast as possible, I pray you. Let us never 



EDUCATION. 313 

forget that the business of an instructer begins where 
the office of a book ends. It is the action of mind 
upon mind, exciting, awakening, showing by example 
the power of reasoning and the scope of generahzation, 
and rendering it impossible that the pupil should not 
think ; this is the noble and the ennobling duty of an 
instructer. 

2. These remarks will enable us to correct an error 
which of late has done very much evil to the science of 
education. Some years since, I know not when, it 
was supposed, or it is said that it was supposed, that 
the whole business of education was to store the mind 
with facts. Dugald Stewart, I beheve, somewhere 
remarks, that the business of education, on the contrary, 
is to cultivate the original faculties. Hence the con- 
clusion was drawn that it mattered not what you taught, 
since the great business was to strengthen the faculties. 
Now this conclusion has afforded to the teacher a most 
convenient support against the pressure of almost every 
manner of attack. If you taught a boy rhetoric, and 
he could not write English, it has become sufficient to 
say that the grand object w^as, not to teach the structure 
of sentences, but to strengthen the faculties. If you 
taught him the mathematics, and he did not understand 
the Rule of Three, and could not tell you how to 
measure the height of his village steeple, it was all no 
matter — the object was to strengthen his faculties. If, 
after six or seven years of study of the languages, he 
had no more taste for the classics than for Sanscrit, and 
sold his books to the highest bidder, resolved never 
again to look into them, it was all no matter, — he had 
been studying, to strengthen his faculties, wdiile by this 
27^ 



314 DISCOURSE OX 

very process his faculties have been enfeebled almost to 
annihilation. 

Now, if I mistake not, all this reasoning is false, even 
to absurdity. Granting that the improvement of the 
faculties is the most important business of instmction, it 
does not follow that it is the only business. What ! 
will a man tell me that it is of ho consequence whether 
or not I know the laws of that universe to which I be- 
long ? Will he insult me, by pretending to teach them 
to me m such a manner that I shall, in the end, know 
nothmg about them ? Are such the results to which 
the science of education leads ? Will a man pretend 
to illuminate me by thmsting himself, year after year, 
exactly in my sunshme r No ; if a man profess to 
teach me a law of my Creator, let him make the thing 
plain, let him teach me to remember it, and accustom 
me to apply it. Otherwise, let him stand out of the 
way, and allovv' me to do it for myself. 

But this doctrine is yet more false ; for even if it be 
true, that it matters not what is taught, it by no means 
follows that it is no matter how it is taught. The doc- 
trine in question, however, supposes that the faculties 
are to be somehow streno:thened bv • £:oino^ over,' as it 
is called, a book or a science, without any regard to 
the manner in which the task is accomplished. The 
faculties are streno^thened bv the use of the faculties : 
but this doctrine has been quoted to shield a mode of 
teaching, m which they are not used at all ; and hence 
has arisen a great amount of teaching, which has had 
very little effect, either in communicating knowledge, 
or giving efficiency to mind. 

Let us, then, come to the truth of the question. It 



EDUCATION. 315 

is important what I study ; for it is important whether 
or not I know the laws of my being, and it is important 
that I so study them, that they shall be of use to me. 
It is also important that my intellectual faculties be im- 
proved, and therefore important that an instructer do 
not so employ my time as to render them less efficient. 

3. Closely connected with these remarks is the 
question, which has of late been so much agitated, re- 
specting the study of the ancient languages and the 
mathematics. On the one part, it is urged that the 
study of the languages is intended to cultivate the taste 
and the imagination, and that of the mathematics to 
cultivate the understanding. On the other part, it is 
denied that these effects are produced ; and it is asserted 
that the time spent in the study of them is wasted. 
Examples, as may be supposed, are adduced in abun- 
dance on both sides ; but I do not know that the question 
is at all decided. Let us see whether any thing that 
we have said will throw any light upon it. 

I think it can be conclusively proved, that the classics 
could be so taught as to give additional acuteness to 
the discrimination, more delicate sensibility to the taste, 
and more overflowing richness to the imagination. So 
much as this, must, we think, be admitted. If, then, 
it be the fact that these effects are not produced, — and 
I think we must admit that they are not, in any such 
degree as might reasonably be expected, — should we 
not conclude that the fault is not in the classics, but in 
our teaching ? Would not teaching them better be the 
sure way of silencing the clamor against them ? 

1 will frankly confess that I am sad, when I reflect 
upon the condition of the study of the languages among 



316 DISCOURSE ON 

US. We spend frequently six or seven years in reading 
Latin and Greek, and yet who of us writes, — ^ still more, 
who of us speaks them with facility ? I am sure there 
must be something wrong in the mode of our teaching, 
or we should accomplish more. That cannot be skil- 
fully done, which, at so great an expense of time, pro- 
duces so very slender a result. Milton afSrms, that 
what in his time was acquired in six or seven years, 
might have been easily acquired in one. I fear that 
w^e have not greatly improved since. 

Again, we very properly defend the study of the 
languages on the ground that they cultivate the taste, 
the imagination, and the judgment. But is there any 
magic in the name of a classic ? Can we improve a 
boy's mind merely by teaching him to render, w^ith all 
clumsiness, a sentence from another language into his 
own ? Can the faculties of which we have spoken, be 
improved, when not one of them is ever called into 
action ? No. When the classics are so taught as to 
cultivate the taste and give vigor to the imagination, — 
when all that is splendid and beautiful in the works of 
the ancient masters, is breathed into the conceptions of 
our youth, — when the delicate wit of Flaccus tinges 
their conversation, and the splendid oratory of TuUy, 
or the irresistible eloquence of Demosthenes is felt in 
the senate and at the bar — I do not say that even then 
we may not find even something more worthy of being 
studied ; — but we shall then be prepared, with a better 
knowledge of the facts, to decide upon the merits of 
the classics. The same remarks may apply, though 
perhaps with diminished force, to the study of the math- 
ematics. If, on the one hand, it be objected that this 



EDUCATION. 317 

kind of study does not give that energy to the powers 
of reasoning which has frequently been expected, it 
may, on the other hand, be fairly questioned whether 
it be correctly taught. The mathematics address the 
understanding. But they may be so taught as mainly 
to exercise the memory. If they be so taught, we 
shall look in vain for the anticipated result. I suppose 
that a student, after having been taught one class of geo- 
metrical principles, should as much be required to com- 
bine them in the forms of original demonstration, as that 
he who has been taught a rule of arithmetic should be 
required to put it into various and diversified practice. It 
is thus alone, that we shall acquire that Svva>j.ig avcCkuTixri^ 
the mathematical power which the Greeks considered 
of more value than the possession of any number of 
problems. When the mathematics shall be thus taught, 
I think there will cease to be any question, whether 
they add acuteness, vigor and originality to the mind. 

I have thus endeavored, very briefly, to exhibit the 
object of education, and to illustrate the nature of the 
means by which that object is to be accomplished. I 
fear that I have already exhausted your patience. I will, 
therefore, barely detain you with two additional remarks. 

1. To the members of this Convention allow me to 
say, Gentlemen, you have chosen a noble profession. 
What though it do not confer upon us wealth? — it 
confers upon us a higher boon, the privilege of being 
useful. What though it lead not to the falsely named 
heights of political eminence? — it leads us to what is 
far better, the sources of real power ; for it renders in- 
tellectual ability necessary to our success. I do verily 
believe that nothing so cultivates the powers of a man's 



318 DISCOURSE ON EDUCATION. 

ovvn mind like thorough, generous, liberal, and indefati- 
gable teaching. But our profession has rewards, rich 
rewards, peculiar to itself. What can be more delightful 
to a philanthropic mind, than to behold intellectual 
powder increased a hundred fold by our exertions, talent 
developed by our assiduity, passions eradicated by our 
counsel, and a multitude of men pouring abroad over 
society the lustre of a virtuous example, and becoming 
meet to be inheritors with the saints in hght — and all 
in consequence of the direction which we have given 
to them in youth ? I ask again, what profession has 
any higher rewards ? 

Again, w^e at this day are in a manner the pioneers 
in this work in this country. Education, as a science, 
has scarcely yet been naturalized among us. Radical 
improvement in the means of education is an idea that 
seems but lately to have entered into men's minds. It 
becomes us to act worthily of our station. Let us by 
all the means in our powder second the efforts and the 
wishes of the public. Let us see that the first steps in 
this course are taken w^isely. This country ought to 
be the best educated on the face of the earth. By the 
blessing of Heaven, we can do much towards the making 
of it so. God helping us, then, let us make our mark 
on the rising generation. 



DISCOURSE 



ON THE 



PHILOSOPHY OF ANALOGY. 

St)/^7ra3-?7 eivai ra avoi roig kutoj. 



Gentlemen of the Society, — 

It was not without unfeigned reluctance, that I 
complied with the request to appear before you on 
the present occasion. Do not, however, suppose that 
I for a moment distrusted either your candor or your 
forbearance. Full well was I assured, that you would 
look wuh indulgence upon the humblest attempt to 
advance the science or to adorn the literature of our 
country. My reluctance proceeded from a different 
source. Accustomed to the investigation of abstract 
truth, I feared lest the train of my reflections should 
seem too far removed from the ordinary walks of 
literary life. I however remembered that general 
truth is, in its nature, abstracted, and no where could 
I expect that such truth would meet with more devoted 






320 THE PHILOSOPHY 

admirers than in a Society, whose only object is the 
cultivation of letters. Besides, I have thought that, by 
giving to these annual discourses the tinge of our 
different professional pursuits, we should enlarge the 
field from which subjects for discussion may be select- 
ed, and secure as great a degree of variety as the 
occasion may demand. 

Influenced by these considerations, I venture to 
request your attention to some remarks which I shall 
offer upon the philosophy of analogy; a subject, 
which, so far as I have been able to discover, has not 
yet attracted the particular notice of any writer in our 
language. This neglect is at least somewhat remark- 
able, for I know of none which stands more intimately 
connected, both with the improvement of science, and 
the progress of discovery. May we not, then, hope 
that by exploring a field, which has been so long 
overlooked, we may find something to reward our 
search, which has thus far escaped the notice of more 
able inquirers. 

The most obvious thought that meets us, when we 
reflect upon the intellectual relation which man sustains 
to the universe around him, is, that he commences 
his existence entirely destitute of knowledge. He is, 
however, so constituted, that knowledge must inevitably 
result from the elements of which his intellectual char- 
acter is composed, and from the circumstances under 
which those elements are placed. Thus, we find him 
endowed with a universal appetite for knowledge, 
which, by a law of his nature, grows by what it feeds 
on. Again, we find man surrounded by a universe, 
in all respects corresponding to this mental appetite. 



OF ANALOGY. 321 

and adapted, at the same moment, both to gratify and 
to stimulate inquiry. Knowledge, however, is ac- 
quired, neither by this appetite, nor by its relation to 
this universe. Man is, therefore, endowed also with 
faculties, by the exercise of which he is able to dis- 
cover that truth by which his desires are gratified and 
his intellectual happiness created. 

If we consider the subject somewhat more atten- 
tively, we not only perceive that the universe is spread 
around us to stimulate our love of truth, but we may 
also discover the mode in which the successive devel- 
opments of truth are addressed to the ever-growing 
faculties of an immortal spirit. It may not be un- 
profitable to occupy a few moments in illustrating this 
position. 

The first step in the progress of knowledge is, the 
observation of facts, that is, that certain things exists 
and that certain changes are taking place in them. 
This information we derive at first entirely from the 
senses. 

But, it is found that these changes, or, as they are 
technically called, phenomena, do not take place at 
random, but in the order of a succession, at first dimly, 
but, by close inspection, more clearly, seen. The 
order of this succession is next noted, and this forms 
the first conception of a law of nature. Subsequent 
observation and more accurate experiments determine 
more of the circumstances actually connected with 
this law of succession, disengage from it that which is 
accidental, extend its dominion to other changes placed 
by the Author of nature under its control, and thus a 
nearer and nearer approximation is made to pure and 
28 



322 THE PHILOSOPHY 

unchangeable truth. Thus, in mechanics, we learn, 
first, the fact that bodies, under certain circumstances, 
without any impulse change their place. Pursuing 
our investigations further, we learn under what circum- 
stances and in what direction alone this motion or 
change of place occurs; we ascertain the various facts 
or laws which pertain to the motion itself, and extend, 
as far as we are able, our knowledge of the objects to 
which these laws apply. Thus also, by knowing the 
laws which govern any particular class of objects, we 
preclude the necessity of innumerable experiments, 
and are enabled to predict, under given circumstances, 
what, throughout the material universe, will be the 
certain result. 

Again, between the laws which govern different 
classes of objects, there are found to exist various points 
of coincidence. These points of coincidence, and 
the circumstances under which they occur, are also 
objects of knowledge. They form laws of a higher 
class, or more general laivs, by which the less general 
laws themselves are governed. Thus, I mentioned 
that the law by which the attraction of gravity operates, 
is discovered. The laws by which the attraction of 
magnetism, and that of electricity operate, have also 
been discovered, and these laws are found to coincide, 
and hence we derive a general law of attraction, ap- 
plying to gravity, magnetism, electricity, and probably 
to all kinds of attraction throughout the universe. 

But it is evident that the progress of human knowl- 
edge is not here arrested. These general laws may 
be subject to others yet more general. Again, corres- 
pondences may be discovered between these and others 



OF ANALOGY. 323 

yet more general. Thus, at every step of our pro- 
gress, we are enabled to predict not only an infinity 
of changes, but also an infinity of laws by which those 
changes are governed. Thus, I have spoken of the 
general law of attraction governing the laws of gravi- 
tation, electricity, and uiagnetism. This law of attrac- 
tion may yet be found subject to some more general 
law, which governs both attraction and repulsion, and 
every species of motion. Again, these more general 
laws of motion may be connected with those of light, 
and a multitude of other classes of laws not yet dis- 
covered. And so on to infinity. 

But it is still to be observed that not only is human 
knowledge thus continually extending, it is moreover 
evident that a tendency to universal extension has 
been impressed upon it by its Creator. For we find 
that a law, when legitimately established, is never 
known to vary. Some unexplained deviation is, how- 
ever, frequently discovered in the mode of its operation. 
This, by the constitution of the human mind, leads to 
more extensive investigation. Investigation shows that 
the language of nature had been misinterpreted, and 
that every discrepancy vanishes, by adopting a wider 
generalization and admitting a more universal philo- 
sophical principle. Thus, to refer to the case of 
gravity, it was at first found that some bodies rose in- 
stead of falling in the air, and hence there seemed an 
exception to the law which before appeared established. 
More accurate experiment, however, proved that the 
air itself gravitated to the earth, and thus not only the 
exception was explained, but a wider universality was 
given to the general law than had been before conceded 



324 THE PHILOSOPHY 

to it. Thus, also, in chemistry, Lavoisier considered 
oxygen the only supporter of combustion. To this 
law there seemed some curious anomalies. It was 
reserved for the genius of Sir Humphrey Davy to dis- 
cover another supporter, and thus not only to arrive 
at a principle of wider application, but also to unfold 
the universal truth that the whole matter of our earth 
is composed of but two classes of substances, com- 
bustibles and supporters of combustion. Thus, the 
tendency of mind is, in its very nature, upward. Thus, 
that intellect, which, at the beginning, the Almighty 
formed in his own image, was made to soar with un- 
tiring wing towards the Author of her being, while 
with an eye that never blenches, she gazes without 
ceasing upon that holy, uncreated light in which He 
sits pavilioned. 

Such then is the nature of that love of knowledge 
which the Creator hath made an element of our intel- 
lectual being, and such the objects which He hath 
spread around to employ and to ennoble it. 

But you will at once perceive that this desire, and 
these objects, might exist in connexion forever, and 
that, were there no other elements in our intellectual 
constitution, no knowledge would ever be the result. 
The simple desire to know, never discovers truth, and 
of course never produces knowledge. Truth, the 
most valuable of treasures, is to be attained only by 
labor. The pearl may be had, but the price must be 
paid for it. Like every other acquisition, it is also 
the result of the employment of means. And, unless 
the means be employed, the result must not be 
expected. 



OF ANALOGY. 325 

To illustrate this by a single consideration. All the 
various laws which I have mentioned as the objects of 
knowledge, evidently exist. But they are not mani- 
fest, simply by inspection. They do not lie every 
where on the surface. The changes of the universe 
are every where going on ; but they are seen only as 
results. The laws which regulate them can be known 
only by patient analysis and careful generalization. 
Thus also the relations of quantity have always existed ; 
but how many ages of research have been required to 
develop them as they are now displayed in the science 
of mathematics ! The same is true of mechanics, of 
astronomy, of chemistry, and of all the other sciences. 
There are two processes of thought by which this 
know^ledge may be acquired ; the one demonstration, 
the other induction. Demonstration proceeds from 
self-evident principles to the most complicated relations. 
Its sphere is the science of quantity, and, within that 
sphere, its dominion is absolute. To quantity, and 
whatever may be brought within the grasp of quantity, 
its empire is however limited. It is by the use of this 
instrument that the mathematicians have shed so re- 
splendent a flood of light upon mechanics, optics, 
astronomy and motion. 

The other process is induction. By means of this, 
we commence with individual instances, and, by com- 
parison and classification, arrive at laws more and 
more general. This instrument is used in all the 
sciences not within the province of the matlieniatics, 
and even to many of these it forms the basis of their 
reasonings. The difference between these two pro- 
cesses is this. The one proceeds from self-evident 
28^ 



326 THE PHILOSOPHY 

truth to its necessary results ; the other from known 
effects to their actual antecedents. Such are the 
modes of intellectual labor, by which alone human 
knowledge is extended. The w4iole universe is spread 
out before us, and we are constituted with an irre- 
pressible desire to know the laws by which it is regu- 
lated. The means are placed in our power, by the 
exercise of which, this desire is gratified. When we 
ask of nature a question, she points us to this beauteous 
earth, that heaving ocean, and yon measureless ex- 
panse, and, in the living characters which are there 
inscribed, bids us read her answer. But that answer 
must be decyphered by the exercise of the faculties 
which she herself hath given us. In the forms of 
demonstration and induction alone can these faculties 
be used to decypher it. 

If now we consider the answer which is thus ob- 
tained, w^e shall observe in it several things well worthy 
of our attention. 

And first. The answer is always strictly limited to 
the question proposed. We interrogate nature, and 
she replies to that interrogation alone. I do not mean 
to assert, that accidental discoveries are not frequently 
made. But the very mode in which they are made 
confirms the truth of my remark. Suppose that a 
philosopher wished to know the nature of colors, but 
that he pursued a course of experiment which taught 
the gravity of the air, the result of his experiment 
would be the answer to the question ; Has the air 
weight? This, therefore, would be the real question 
which he was asking, and to this question the answer 
would be definite. But as the inquirer had another 



OF ANALOGY. 327 

question in his mind, the chances are almost infinite to 
one that he would not understand the answer which 
he received. 

Secondly. The answer of nature in every case is 
confined to either an affirmative or a negative. The 
inquirer asks, and she simply replies, it is, or, it is not. 
If he inquires how, she is invariably silent. He must 
put the particular case, and then, when he has inter- 
preted her answer, he will find it always positive and 
determinate. It, however, as I have said, never goes 
beyond a simple yea or nay. This is the case with 
the longest and most complicated as well as with the 
simplest and most expeditious processes of investiga- 
tion. 

Third. The negative characters of nature's lan- 
guage are frequently as difficult to interpret as the 
affirmative. Both also are alike destitute of meaning 
until the answer is decyphered. Hence the collected 
sagacity of the world might toil for- ages to interpret a 
single answer of nature, and find at last that it con- 
tained nothing else than the single monosyllable, no. 

From a comparison of these obvious facts, it is evi- 
dent that were we possessed of no other means of dis- 
covery than the strict exercise of the reasoning faculties, 
the progress of knowledge would be merely accidental. 
To speak with exactness, demonstration and induction 
never discover a law of nature ; they only show 
whether a law has or has not been discovered."^ And 
as truth is one, and error infinite, it is manifest that, 
were we in possession of no other means of advance- 
ment, we might weary ourselves forever in interpreting 

* Note G. 



328 THE PHILOSOPHY 

the answers of nature, and find, in the end, that we 
had only taken a few from an infinity of possibiHties 
of error. 

That all this is true will, 1 think, be evident from 
facts within the knowledge of all of us. A cursory 
survey of the history of the human mind will convince 
us, that progress in the discovery of the laws of nature 
has not been in proportion to the improv^ement of our 
skill in the use of the instruments of investigation. 
The Hindoos are said to have been acquainted with 
algebra, in a very remote age, and even in an early 
period of their history to have discovered the Binomial 
Theorem ; but what achievements over nature have 
they transmitted to us? Tiie Arabians learned algebra 
probably from the Hindoos; but how have the Arabi- 
ans enlarged the sphere of human knowledge ? The 
Greeks made distinguished progress in geometry ; 
their processes in this science may even now be used 
with advantage ; Sir Isaac Xewton himself acknowl- 
edges them his masters ; but their processes are almost 
all that has come down to us. Their applications of 
these processes to the advancement of truth were rare 
and trivial. The ages emphatically denominated dark 
were distinguished for a subtilty of logic which has 
never been surpassed, and yet they carried human 
knowledge backw^ard. Skill in the use of the instru- 
ments of proof can never, therefore, of itself, insure 
the progress of discovery. 

Beside skill in interpreting the answer of nature, 
man must also then acquire skill in asking of her the 
question. There is needed a science, which, standing 
on the confines of what is known, shall point out the 



OF ANALOGY. 329 

direction in which truth probably lies, in the region 
that is unknown. This, when it has assumed a defi- 
nite form, will be the science of analogy. 

You observe that I speak of the science of analogy, 
as something which is yet to be. It does not now 
exist, but it must exist soon. He who shall create it 
will descend to posterity with a glory in nowise inferior 
to that of Bacon or of Newton. He who would com- 
plete such a work must be acquainted with the whole 
circle of the sciences, and be familiar with their histo- 
ry ; he must examine and analyze all the circumstan- 
ces of every important discovery, and, from the facts 
thus developed, point out the laws by which is gov- 
erned the yet unexplained process of original investi- 
gation. When God shall have sent that Genius upon 
earth who was born to accomplish this mighty labor, 
then, one of the greatest obstacles will have been 
removed to our acquiring an unlimited control over 
all the agents of nature. 

But passing this part of the subject, I remark that, 
whenever the laws of such a science shall have been 
discovered, I think that they will be found to rest upon 
the two following self-evident principles. 

First. A part of any system which is the work of 
an intelligent agent, is similar, so far as the principles 
which it involves are concerned, to the whole ol that 
system. 

And, secondly. The work of an intelligent and 
moral being must bear, in all its lineaments, the traces 
of the character of its Author. And, hence, he will 
use analogy the most skilfully who is most thoroughly 
imbued with the spirit of the system, and at the same 



330 THE PHILOSOPHY 

time most deeply penetrated with a conviction of the 
attributes of the First Cause of all things. 

To illustrate this by a single remark. Suppose I 
should present before you one of the paintings of 
Raphael, and, covering by far the greater part of it 
with a screen, ask you to proceed with the work and 
designate where the next lines should be drawn. It 
is evident that no one but a painter need even make 
the attempt; and of painters, he would be the most 
likely to succeed, who had become best acquainted 
with the genius of Raphael, and had most thoroughly 
meditated upon the manner in which that genius had 
displayed itself in the work before him. So, of the 
system of the universe we see but a part. All the 
rest is hidden from our view. He will, however, 
most readily discover ivhere the next lines are drawn^ 
who is most thoroughly acquainted with the character 
of the Author, and who has observed, with the great- 
est accuracy, the manner in which that character is 
displayed, in that portion of the system which he has 
condescended to reveal to us."^ 

All this is confirmed by the successive efforts of 
mind which resulted in the greatest of Sir Isaac 
Newton's discoveries. " As he sat alone in his gar- 
den," says Dr. Pemberton, '' he fell into a speculation 
on the power of gravity. That, as this power sensibly 
diminished at the remotest distances from the centre 
of the earth to which we can rise, it appeared to him 
reasonable, to conclude that this power must extend 
much farther than was usually thought. Why not as 
high as the moon, said he to himself, and if so, her 
* Note H, 



OF ANALOGY. 231 

motion must be influenced by it; perhaps she is 
retained in her orbit thereby. And if the moon be 
retained in her orbit by the force of gravity, no doubt 
the primary planets are carried round the sun by the 
like power. "^ I think it self-evident, that this first 
germ of the system of the universe would never have 
been suggested to any man whose mind had not been 
filled with exalted views of the greatness of the Cre- 
ator, and who had not diligently contemplated the 
mode in which those attributes were displayed in that 
part of his works which science had already discovered 
to us. 

And if this distinction be just, it will lead us to 
divide philosophers into, those who have been eminent 
for attainment in those sciences which are instruments 
of investigation ; and those, who, to these acquisitions, 
have added unusual skill in foretelling where these 
instruments could with the greatest success be applied. 
Among the ancients, probably Aristotle belonged to 
the former, and Pythagoras and Archimedes to the 
latter class. Among the moderns, I think that infidel 
philosophers generally will be found to have distin- 
guished themselves by the accurate use of the sciences, 
and Christian philosophers by the additional glory of 
foretelling when and how the sciences may be used. 
I am not aware that infidelity hath presented to the 
world any discoveries to be compared with those of 
Boyle and Pascal, and Bacon and Newton, or of 
Locke, and Milton, and Butler. 

And here I may be allowed to suggest that, often 
as the character of Newton has been the theme of 

* Preface to account of Sir I. Newton's Discoveries. 



332 THE PHILOSOPHY 

admiration, it has seemed to me that the most dis- 
tinctive element of his greatness has commonly escaped 
the notice of his eulogists. It was neither in mathe- 
matical skill nor in mathematical invention, that he so 
far surpassed his contemporaries ; for in both these 
respects, he divided the palm with Huygens, and 
Kepler, and Leibnitz. It is in the wide sweep of his 
far-reaching analogy, distinguished alike by its humil- 
ity and its boldness, that he has left the philosophers 
of all previous and all subsequent ages so immeasura- 
bly behind him. Delighted with his modesty and 
reciprocating his confidence, nature held communion 
with him as with a favorite son ; to him ^she unveiled 
her most recondite mysteries ; to him she revealed 
the secret of her most subtile transformations, and then 
taking him by the hand, she walked with him abroad 
over the wide expanse of universal being. 

Thus much concerning the nature of analogy. I 
come next to speak of its practical applications and 
the sources of its improvement. 

The applications of analogy to the sciences have 
been already in part considered. Some additional 
illustrations of this part of the subject may, however, 
be worthy of our attention. 

I have already shown that the use of analogy, in 
extending the dominion of knowledge, is to teach us 
in what direction we should apply the instruments of 
discovery. I have alluded to the skill with which it 
was employed by Newton, and how wonderfully it 
contributed to the unparalleled result which crowned 
his indefatigable labor. Every one must, I think, be 
persuaded that without it, his success would have been 



OF ANALOGY. 333 

in no manner distinguished from that of the other em- 
inent men by whom he was surrounded. And hence 
we see that, just in proportion as the science of analogy 
is perfected, will the useless intellectual labor of the 
human race be diminished. Discovery will cease to 
be the creature of accident, but, like the other opera- 
tions of the human soul, bow submissively to the 
dominion of Law. 

Beside teaching us how to interrogate nature, anal- 
ogy will also instruct us in the best method of inter- 
preting her answer. I have said that the instruments 
used by the understanding for the eviction of truth are 
demonstration and induction. But the forms in which 
these instruments may be used are various. Demon- 
stration may be conducted by different processes, and 
the modes of induction in chemistry, optics, and phi- 
losophy, already numerous, are multiplying with un- 
exampled rapidity. Now it is evidently in the power 
of analogy, to select that process which is most likely 
to furnish the particular solution of which the philoso- 
pher is in search. Thus every one must perceive how 
greatly a judicious classification of the modes of proof 
in the various sciencesj and of the results which have 
emanated from each, would tend to facilitate the pro- 
gress of discovery. 

Again, analogy may be used with great success to 
rebuke erroneous reasonings from either correct or 
incorrect general principles. Human pride and human 
indolence have always been strongly averse to the 
sure but tardy process of reasoning by induction. 
Hence men have been much more prone to tell how 
a phenomenon must be, than to find out how it is. 
29 



334 THE PHILOSOPHY 

At the head of this sect, stands Descartes, who sup- 
posed himself capable of proving the existence and 
qualities of all things from the simple proposition, I 
think, therefore, I exist. The reasonings of the an- 
cient philosophers proceeded very much upon the 
same principles. Now it is evident that demonstrations 
of this kind, if they are true, must be in their nature 
universal. They are otherwise entirely nugatory. 
They attempt to show, not that the fact in question 
does^ but that it must^ or, not that it does not, but that 
it cannot exist. Here then they are met at the outset 
by the analogical reasoner. He presents a case from 
actual existence, in which the same principles are in- 
volved as the objector denies to be under some cir- 
cumstances possible, and asks the unanswerable ques- 
tion, why should not the range of these principles be 
universal? Thus, supposing an Atheist to assert that 
there is no God, and therefore that there can be 
neither future existence nor any state of rewards and 
punishments, the argument from analogy would be 
sufficient, of itself, to overwhelm him with confusion. 
For, granting his assertion that there is no God, yet 
it is evident that we now exist, and he can show no 
reason why we should not, in another state, continue 
to exist ; and still more if, as is evidently the case, 
we are rewarded and punished for our actions now, 
while, as he asserts there is no God, there is no reason 
why we should not be so rewarded and punished, 
although there were no God, to all eternity. 

And, once more, the argument from analogy is not 
only capable of answering objections, on moral sub- 
jects, it is sufficient moreover to establish a very 



OF ANALOGY. 335 

definite probability. Moral truth is in its nature im- 
mutable, for it stands in unchangeable relation to the 
attributes of the Eternal God. If, therefore, it can 
be shown that He has ever admitted, in his dealings 
with any race of his creatures, a given moral principle, 
it is at once proved that that principle is right, and that 
there is no moral reason why it should not be admitted 
in the dealings of God with that race of beings at any 
other lime. And yet more, I think that a pledge is 
hereby given to the universe, that that principle will 
never be retracted, but that it will remain forever un- 
• changeable. Were it otherwise, the Divine Govern- 
ment would be a government not of law but of caprice. 
And thus the whole moral constitution in our present 
state, so far as it has been illustrated, is found to bear 
its willing testimony to the antecedent probability of 
revelation. It is upon these indisputable truths, that 
Butler has reared his immortal work, a work which 
has done more to promote the discovery and establish 
the truth of ethical philosophy, than any uninspired 
treatise in any age or language. 

Tlie applications of analogy to the fine arts must 
already have suggested themselves to you ; they wull, 
therefore, require only a passing illustration. 

The intellectual exertion on which the fine arts 
depend consist of a combined effort of imagination 
and taste. How closely connected are the analogies 
of science with those of the imagination will easily be 
seen. In the analogies of science, we commence 
with a single cause, and search throughout the uni- 
verse for effects which may be brought under its do- 
minion. In the analogies of the imagination, we 



336 THE PHILOSOPHY 

commence with an effect^ and range throughout all 
that the mind hath conceived, in quest of caw^ei* which 
produce a similar effect. It is thus that we are enabled 
to enrobe the deductions of the understanding with 
aught that creation can present of beauty or of 
grandeur. 

The poet's ej^e, in a fine frenzy rolling, 

Glances from heaven to earth, from eaith to heaven. 

And, as Imagination pictures forth 

The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen 

Turns them to shape, and gives to airy nothings 

A local habitation and a name. 

Thus we perceive that the effort of Newton, carry- 
ing out by analogy the principle of gravitation to the 
utmost verge of the material creation, was strikingly 
analogous to that of Milton in his Allegro or Penseroso, 
looking through all that the eye hath seen or the 
heart imagined, in search of images of gaiety or of 
sadness. 

Nor is the philosophy of taste substantially dissimi- 
lar. Taste is the sensibility of our nature to the 
various forms of beauty which the Creator hath spread 
with such profusion around us. He who made the 
mind for beauty, also made beauty for the mind. He 
hath penciled it upon the spangled meadow and on 
the burnished cloud. He hath chiseled it in the gi- 
gantic majesty of the cedar of Lebanon, and in the 
trembling loveliness of the tendril which twines around 
its branches. In obedience to its laws. He hath taught 
the linnet to flutter in the grove, and the planets to 
revolve in their pathway through the heavens. We 
hear it in the purling brook and in the thundering 
cataract, and we perceive it yet more legibly inscribed 



OF ANALOGY. 337 

upon all those social and moral qualities in the exer- 
cise of which our Maker hath intended that we should 
be forever approaching nearer and nearer to the ex- 
haustless source of uncreated excellence. These are 
the models which nature presents for the contemplation 
of the Artist; and, just in proportion to his power of 
detecting among her complicated forms the simple 
elements of loveliness, and of combining them accord- 
ing to the examples which she herself has set before 
him, will he fill the vacant canvass with images of 
beauty, and animate the dull cold marble with breath- 
ing intelligence.. It is this communion with nature, 
which endows the artist with what Lord Chatham has 
so well denominated the prophetic eye of taste, and 
which has left the Belvidere Apollo, and the Medicean 
Venus, the temple on the Ilyssus, and the temple of 
Minerva, to illustrate to all coming generations what 
genius can accomplish. We see thus that in taste, as 
in all the original operations of the human mind, it is 
the sublimest attribute of intelligence to see things as 
they are. 

Allow me, in the last place, to direct your attention 
to the sources from which may be expected the im- 
provement of analogy. 

We may expect the science of analogy to improve 
from the greater accuracy of human knowledge, I 
have already alluded to the fact, that discovery pro- 
ceeds by observing a particular law in an individual 
instance, and then by analogy extending the dominion 
of that law to the infinitely greater instances within 
the reach of our observation. 

It is evident, therefore, that the elements with which 
29^ 



338 THE PHILOSOPHY 

we commence must be strictly and purely true, or our 
seemingly just anticipations will be invariably disap- 
pointed. This may be exemplified by an incident 
which occurred in the progress of Sir I. Newton's 
discoveries. " In his investigation of the question, 
whether the force of gravity were sufficient to keep 
the moon in her orbit, he used as the basis of his cal- 
culations, the then common estimate, that sixty English 
miles were contained in one degree of the latitude of 
the earth. But as this is a very faulty supposition, 
his computation did not answer expectation ; whence 
he concluded that some other cause must at least join 
with the action of the power of gravity on the moon. 
On this account he laid aside for that time any thoughts 
on that matter. It was not until some years had 
elapsed and a more accurate admeasurement of the 
earth had been effected, that he resumed the subject; 
and, as soon as he introduced the true estimate into 
the element of his reasonings, he immediately ascer- 
tained, what he had formerly anticipated, that the 
moon is held in her orbit by the power of gravitation 
alone. ""^ Of so great importance is pure and unadul- 
terated truth, in every thing which claims to be ele- 
mentary in our knowledge. 

How greatly the science of analogy must be im- 
proved by increasing the extent of human knowledge, 
I scarcely need remind you. It is manifest that every 
new law which is discovered throws light upon some 
other law, and also points to some more general prin- 
ciple, by which, it, and the class to which it belongs, 
are governed. That this is true, is evident from the 

* Dr. Pemberton's Preface to Sir I. Newton's Discoveries. 



OF ANALOGY. 339 

fact, that In those periods, in which science has ad- 
vanced with the greatest rapidity, the same discovery 
has frequently been made, by several individuals, at 
the same time. This teaches us that the laws then 
discovered had pointed out the next step in discovery, 
and thus that talent common to many was able to ac- 
complish what the highest endowments in intellect had 
previously found to be impossible. 

And yet more. I have alluded to a knowledge of 
the spirit of the system, as far as it has been inves- 
tigated, as of the greatest importance in promoting the 
science of analogy. But it is evident that this knowl- 
edge can be perfected only in proportion as the system 
itself in its various relations is discovered. Every 
step in our progress gives us a wider range of obser- 
vation, and enables us to induce our general principles 
from a more extensive comparison of facts. It is thus 
also, that from an attentive contemplation of the pro- 
gress of the system, we are enabled to perceive the 
result to which the whole is tending, the modes of 
operation by which that result is produced, and the 
various circumstances, physical, intellectual, and 
moral, by which the advancement of knowledge is 
either accelerated or retarded. Thus, if you will 
allow me to allude to an illustration which I have used 
before, if a painting were placed before you, of which 
the larger portion was covered, and you were requested 
to complete the work of a Titian, or a Raphael, it is 
evident that no one would be able to succeed, unless 
he had attentively studied the nature of the work and 
the character of the artist. But it is evident also, 
that just in proportion as the work advanced, and 



340 THE PHILOSOPHY 

portion after portion of the screen was removed, just 
in that proportion would the difficulty of completing 
the whole diminish. We should see, more and more 
clearly, the end which the artist had in view, and we 
should learn the modes of expression which he was 
accustomed to employ, until the sight of a single 
feature would enable us to delineate the entire coun- 
tenance of which it formed a part, and a single prom- 
inent figure would suggest to us the expression and 
design of an animated group. 

Again, it is evident that, in attempting to delineate 
such a painting as 1 have described, it would be nat- 
ural for us to acquire, by all the means in our power, 
as accurate an acquaintance as was possible with the 
character of its author. If a history of his life, and a 
delineation of his habits could be obtained, we should 
derive the greatest advantage from contemplating them 
witii the profoundest attention. And specially if there 
could be obtained a specimen of his work on a more 
exalted subject, on which he had expended his pro- 
foundest skill, and which he had finished with extra- 
ordinary care, of the advantage of meditating on such 
a picture, we should be insane if we did not incessantly 
avail ourselves. 

This leads me to observe that w^e may anticipate 
the greatest improvement in the science of analogy 
from the progress of our race in the knowledge of the 
character of God. Beside the works which he hath 
created for our instruction, he hath condescended to 
make himself known to us in a written revelation. 
Here he hath taught us the infinity of his power, the 
unsearchableness of his wisdom, the boundlessness of 



OF ANALOGY. 341 

his omnipresence, the tenderness of his compassion, 
and the purity of his holiness. Now, it is evident that 
the system of things around us must all have heen 
constructed in accordance v^ith the conceptions of so 
ineffably glorious an intelligence. But to such a being 
as this we are infinitely dissimilar. Compared with 
the attributes of the Eternal, our knowledge, and 
power, and goodness are but the shadow of a name. 
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are his 
ways higher than our ways, and his thoughts than our 
thoughts. So long, then, as we measure his works 
by our conceptions, is it wonderful if we are lost in 
inextricable darkness, and weary ourselves in asking 
of nature questions to which the indignant answer is 
invariably, no ! It is only when, in the profoundest 
humility, we acknowledge our own ignorance, and 
look to the Father of lights for wisdom, it is only 
when, bursting free from the littleness of our own 
limited conceptions, we lose ourselves in the vastness 
of the Creator's infinity, that we can rise to the height 
of this great argument, and point out the path of dis- 
covery to coming generations. While men, measuring 
the universe by the standard of their own narrow con- 
ceptions, and surveying all things through the distem- 
pered medium of their own puerile vanity, placed the 
earth in the centre of the system, and supposed sun, 
moon, and stars to revolve daily around it, the science 
of astronomy stood still, and age after age groped 
about in almost rayless darkness. It was only when 
humility had taught us how small a space we occupied 
in the boundlessness of creation, and raised us to a 
conception of the plan of the Eternal, that light broke 



342 THE PHILOSOPHY 

in, like the morning star, upon our midnight, and a 
beauteous universe rose out of void and formless chaos. 

And, yet more, the Book of Revelation contains 
the only delineation v^hich we possess of the com- 
mencement, prosecution, and completion of one of the 
designs of Deity. It is the work of man's restoration 
to purity and happiness. We may here detect the 
benevolence which actuates the Almighty, the modes 
which he adopts to carry that benevolence into effect, 
the manner in which his infinite wisdom directs all 
things to the accomplishment of his merciful purposes, 
and how, in despite of apparently insurmountable ob- 
stacles, he by the simplest means makes all events 
conspire to a perfect and triumphant consummation. 

Now when we compare the sj^stem of man's re- 
demption with the system of the material universe, we 
shall find them, in many respects, analogous. Both 
are the conceptions of the same infinite Deity. Both 
are designed to promote the happiness of man. They 
differ only in this, that the one is adapted to his phys- 
ical, the other to his moral wants. It would, therefore, 
be totally unlike any of the other works of God, if 
that system, of which the outline of the whole is 
known, did not shed abundant light upon those por- 
tions of the other system which yet remain unknown. 
And to this must be added another consideration. It 
cannot have escaped the attention of any thinking 
mind, that the progress of every science, since the 
revival of letters, has served to shed new light upon 
the Book of Revelation. Geography has borne witness 
to the truth of its delineations, the discovery and in- 
terpretation of ancient writings have illustrated its an- 



OF ANALOGY. 343 

tiquities, polilical economy has confirmed the truth of 
its ethics, while intellectual philosophy is establishing 
the science of testimony, and fixing the principles of 
interpretation. And all this is evidently but in its 
very commencement. Who can foresee the glory of 
the result, when the full blaze of every science shall 
be concentrated upon the page of everlasting Truth, 
and thence reflected, with undiminished effulgence, 
upon the upward path of baptized philosophy."^ 

And lastly. As the constitution under which we 
are placed is a moral government, God bestows his 
richest blessings in strict accordance with the moral 
character of his creatures. May we not hope, then, 
that with the improvement of our race in piety, he will 
invigorate our powers of discovery ; and specially, 
that that '' Spirit, who above all temples does prefer 
the upright heart and pure," will be sent to instruct 
us ; that ''what is dark in us he will illumine, what is 
low raise and support." Then, at last, every obstacle 
to our progress in knowledge and virtue having been 
removed, we shall enter upon that career of improve- 
ment for which we were originally designed by our 
Creator. Then, as at the beginning, shall God look 
upon all the works which he hath made, and behold all 
will be again good. Then shall the morning stars 
sirig together, and all the sons of God shout aloud for 

joy. 

* Note I. 



ADDRESS ON TEMPERANCE. 



Several years have now elapsed, since the evils of 
Intemperance were first set before us in the language 
of plain, graphic, forcible eloquence. Repeatedly, 
since that time, has your attention been directed to this 
subject, by the most gifted of our fellow citizens, in 
each of the learned professions. It has, within a few 
years, attracted the attention, not only of this country, 
but that of many countries of Europe. The civilized 
world is beginning to inquire into both the extent and 
the effects of this most alarming evil. The results of 
these inquiries are now spread before us, and a visible 
check has been already given to this most terrific form 
of misery and \dce. 

Under these circumstances, then, are we assembled 
this evening. We do not come to ask, whether such 
an evil exists. This is granted. We do not come to 
ask whether it threatens destruction to every form of 
human happiness. This also is granted. We do not 
come to inquire whether this evil can be corrected* 



ADDRESS ON TEMPERANCE. 345 

The evidence is satisfactory that it can be. The 
question before us now is, what shall we do, to eradi- 
cate this vice from this town"^ and from this State ? To 
look at an evil, to mourn over it, to ask whether it can 
be corrected, is not enough. It becomes us to ask, 
has not the time come to strike one effectual blow, and 
to banish this vice from among us altogether ? 

It shall be my endeavor this evening to lead your 
reflections to a decision upon this question. And, in 
order that we may decide with the better understand- 
ing, I shall attempt briefly to illustrate the individual, 
the SOCIAL, and the economical effects of Intemper- 
ance. 

First, The effects of Intemperance on the indi- 
vidual. 

A single portion of alcohol, in any form whatever, 
adds force and frequency to the pulse, increases the 
heat of the skin, excites the imagination, inflames the 
passions, and gives a momentary buoyancy to the spir- 
its. This is soon followed by lassitude, depression, 
torpor, and debility. These latter effects render the 
appetite for repeated stimulants more imperative. And 
hence it is, that he who once commences drinking, is 
preparing his physical system to render him the slave 
of drinking. He who drinks at eleven o'clock will 
need stiff more to drink at one o'clock, and then again 
at four and at six o'clock, and, at last, before breakfast. 
By this time he has become a drunkard. Thus, from 
the very nature of the case, the only infallible preven- 
tive of intemperance is total abstinence. 

We see, from the effects of a single portion of alco- 
* Providence, R. I. 

30 



346 ADDRESS ON 

hol, that it must fail to perform every promise which It 
makes to the drinker. Wine is a mocker. It is taken 
to increase muscular strength, it produces muscular 
debility. It is taken to produce animal heat, it pro- 
duces permanent chilliness. It is taken to elevate the 
spirits, it invariably depresses them. ' Look not thou 
on the wine when it is red, when it giveth his color in 
the cup, when it moveth itself aright ; at the last, it 
biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.' 

Such are the immediate effects of a single act of 
indulgence, and such the powerful tendency which that 
indulgence has to become habitual. Its effects upon 
the physical system are then most alarming. These 
however have been, with so much ability, lately set 
before you, by a distinguished gentleman of this town, 
of the medical profession,^ that a bare allusion to them 
will be sufficient for my purpose. It is found that the 
invariable effect of the use of ardent spirits is to destroy 
the appetite, and to paralyze the action of the whole 
ahmentary canal. The stomach becomes inflamed and 
corrugated. The liver is either enlarged or indurated. 
The action of the heart becomes weak and irregular. 
The blood becomes dark-colored and deficient in vital- 
ity. The brain is found hardened, and its cavities in 
some cases actually filled with diluted alcohol. The 
skin becomes red, inflamed, and disposed to ulceration. 
The m,uscles are weak and trembling. The eyes suf- 
fused, watery, and rolling, so that a drinker cannot look 
you in the face. The breath is nauseous and alcoholic. 
The voice is guttural, and frequently tremulous, as 
though a palsy had stiffened the roots of the tongue. 

* Usher Parsons, M. D. 



TEMPERANCE. 347 

The hand shakes like an aspen leaf. Every thing 
shows that the vital powers are faltering, and that the 
moment is not far off when they will fail altogether. 

And these indications are soon, very soon, fulfilled. 
It is scarcely possible to express how feeble is the hold 
w^iich the drunkard has upon the principle of hfe. Let 
him only fracture a limb, the consequence is death. 
Let a fever seize him, and he perishes a maniac. Let 
pulmonary disease attack him, and he dies without a 
struggle. Let the atmosphere become heated but a 
few degrees above the ordinary temperature of a sum- 
mer's day, and he falls dead in the street. Let the 
cold exceed the ordinary severity of winter, and he 
freezes by the road side or even while asleep in his bed. 
Let a wasting epidemic sw^eep over the land, and it 
hurries the drunkards into eternity by thousands. We 
are told that the cholera, that most alarming of all the 
maladies which the history of man has recorded, selects 
its subjects from the class of the intemperate, and that 
w^hen it has marked its victim, it hurries him in a few mo- 
ments to inevitable destruction. O, should this most ter- 
rific of all the scourges of the Almighty pass across the 
Atlantic, and move in judgment over America, as it has 
already moved over Asia, and the greater part of Eu- 
rope, wdio can tell how fearfully great would be the 
number of its slain ; or, how^ indiscriminately it would 
here, as elsewhere, smite the high as well as the low 
places of society with sudden devastation ! Like tlie 
flying roll which the prophet saw, it is the curse of 
God going forth over all the earth, entering into every 
house, and unfolding the doom of every fomily, sparing 
neither age nor sex, rank nor station, parent nor child, 



343 ADDRESS ON 

but marking every intemperate man and woman for 
instant, agonizing, strange, and horrible death. 

These are some of the physical effects of Intemper- 
ance upon the individual. Turn now to its intel- 
lectual and MORAL effects. 

Every one must be convinced, that the condition of 

mind and body best adapted to intellectual energy, must 

be that in which, free from all excitement, and all 

prejudice, and all dullness, in the clear light of reason, 

we can perceive things as they are. This state of 

mind is to be procured by exercise and temperance, 

and it is one of the choicest rewards which they confer 

upon man. The intellect, however, is liable to become 

beclouded by disease. Every one knows the effect of 

a paroxysm of fever, how at one time the mind is 

o^oaded and wearied with its own imao^inlno-s, and how 

at another it sinks down into dull, sleepy torpor. Of 

what intellectual labor is a man, thus afflicted, capable ? 

How would you pity him who was obliged to transact 

his business, in the ^^-ild delirium of an inflammatory, 

or in the heavy stupor of a typhous fever ; and, how 

well should you suppose that that man's business would 

be transacted ? It is commonly thought, that Napoleon 

lost all the advantages which he might have gained by 

the battle of Moscow, in consequence of a paroxysm 

of fever, which palsied his energies and beclouded his 

conceptions, and thus disabled him firom comprehending 

the entire nature of his situation, and gi\"ing to the work 

of death the fearful energy of his usual combinations. 

Now the effects of intemperance upon the intellect, 
are just as certain and as destructive as the effects of 
disease ; and, instead of being temporary, they are per- 



TEMPERANCE. 349 

manent. The states of mind which drinking produces 
are three. The first is that of feverish excitement, in 
which a man's imagination is aroused, his hopes are 
bright, his prospects are inviting, his risks are nothing, 
his success is sure. 

The second state is that of entire nervous exhaustion, 
in which every thing looks gloomily, every prospect 
appears disastrous, every chance seems against him, 
and he sinks down in deep, sad, hopeless despondency. 

The third state is that, in which the mind ceases to 
be affected by these frequent transitions, and settles 
down into a moody, stupid vacuity, in which all distant 
objects affect a man slightly ; he is forgetful, morose, 
displeased with himself, and, by consequence, displeas- 
ed with every being around him. 

Now I surely need not say to you that neither of 
these states of mind is suitable to the best exercise of 
the human intellect. In every one of them, the man 
is under the influence of a partial, a self-inflicted, but, 
to all practical purposes, real insanity. If he be a 
merchant, he will make foolish bargains. If a lawyer, 
he will make foolish speeches. He will, in the first 
state, err by excess, and in the second, err by defect. 
At last, sinking down into the third state of dull, muddy 
abstraction, he will lose all talent for business, frittering 
away his time in doing what need not be done, and 
leaving the very thing undone that a most imperative 
necessity calls upon him to do. He neglects his friends, 
abuses his customers, until, day after day, he sits soli- 
tary in his deserted place of trade, holding connnunion 
with no other form of existence than his bottle and his 
glass. O ! it is most affecting to think how many 
30* 



350 ADDRESS ON 

there are among us, who, for weeks and months to- 
gether, do not enjoy a single hour's exercise of sober, 
healthy thinking, and its natural result, fair, unbiassed, 
clear sighted common sense. Hence they complain 
that the times are hard, that business is unprofitable, 
that their friends are forsaking them, that every thing 
which they attempt fails of success, or, as they express 
it, that they always have bad luck ; while every one 
but themselves knows that all their misfortunes spring 
from the one reiterated cause, drink, drink, drink. 

Nor are the moral effects of Intemperance less 
deplorable. • 

In adjusting the nicely arranged system of man's 
immaterial nature, it is abundantly evident, that his 
passions and appetites were designed to be subjected 
implicitly to reason and to conscience. From the want 
of this subjection all his misery arises, and, just in pro- 
portion to the perfection m which it is established, does 
he advance in happiness and virtue. But it unfortu- 
nately is found that in all men, in their present state, 
tlie power of the passions is by far too great for the 
controlling mfluence of that guardianship to which they 
should be subjected. Hence it is found necessary to 
strengthen the influence of reason and conscience by 
all the concurring aids of law, of interest, of public 
opinion, and also by all the tremendous sanctions of 
religion. And even all these are frequently found in- 
sufficient to overcome the power of turbulent, vindictive, 
and malicious passions, and of earthly, brutal, and 
sensual lust. 

Now it is found that nothing has the power to in- 
flame these passions, already too strong for the control 



TEMPERANCE. 351 

of their possessor, like the use of ardent spirits. Noth- 
ing also, has the power, in an equal degree, to silence 
the monitions of reason, and drown the voice of con- 
science, and thus to surrender the man up, the headlonu- 
victhn of fierce and remorseless sensuality. 

Let a bear bereaved of her whelps meet a man, said 
Solomon, rather than a fool in his folly. An intem- 
perate man is frenzied at the suspicion of an insult, he 
is outrageous at the appearance of opposition, he con- 
strues every thing into an offence, and at an offence he 
is implacable. He is revengeful unto death, at the 
least indignity ; while his appetites are aroused to 
ungovernable strength by the remotest prospect of 
gratification. He is dangerous as a ferocious beast, and 
our only security is to flee from him, or to chain him. 
I ask, what is there to prevent any man, thus bereft of 
reason and conscience, and surrendered for the time to 
the dominion of passion and appetite, from committing 
any crime which the circumstances around him may 
suggest ? 

Such is the moral effect of the excitement of intem- 
perance. But when this first stage has passed away, 
the second is scarcely more enviable. The man is 
now as likely to commit crime from utter hopelessness 
as he was before from frenzied impetuosity. The 
horror of his situation now bursts upon him in all its 
reahty. Poverty, want, disgrace, the misery which he 
has brought upon himself, his family, his friends, all 
stand before him in the most aggravated forms, rendered 
yet more appalling by the consciousness that he has 
lost all power of resistance, and that all the energies of 
self-government are prostrated within him. He has 



352 ADDRESS ON 

not moral power to resist the temptation which is de- 
stroying him^ and he has sufficient intellect left to 
comprehend the full nature of that destruction. He 
has no physical vigor left to resume his former course 
of healthy and active employment. The contest within 
him becomes at last a scene of unmitigated anguish. 
He will do any thing rather than bear it. He will fly 
to any thing rather than suffer it. Hence you find such 
men the frequenters of gambling houses, the associates, 
partakers, and instruments of thieves, and, not unfre- 
quently, do you find them ending their days by self- 
inflicted murder. 

Such are some of the effects of intemperance upon 
the individual. I have delayed longer upon ^Ms part 
of the subject, as with it the other parts are ^intimately 
connected. I will now briefly allude^; in thanext place,/ 
to the SOCIAL effects of this alarmiiig vii^e. 

I will here illustrate its effects, first, up(5n our do- 
mestic, secondly, upon our civil relations*r! ' 

And jff you would mark the misery which this vice 
infuses into the cup of domestic happiness, go with me 
to one of those nurseries of crime, a common tippling 
shop, and there behold collected till midnight, the 
Fathers, the Husbands, the Sons, and the Brothers of 
a neighborhood. Bear witness to the stench and the 
fikhiness around them. Hearken to the oaths, the 
obscenity, and the ferocity of their conversation. Ob- 
serve their idiot laugh ; record the vulgar jest with 
which they are delighted, and tell me what potent 
sorcery has so transformed these men, that, for this 
loathsome den, they should forego all the dehghts of 
an innocent and lovely fireside. 



TEMPERANCE. 353 

But let us follow some of them home from the scene 
of their debauch. There is a young man whose accent, 
and gait, and dress, bespeak the communion which he 
once has held with something better than all this. He 
is an only son. On him, the hopes of parents and of 
sisters hav^e centered. Every nerve of that family has 
been strained to give to that intellect, of which they all 
were proud, every opportunity for the choicest cultiva- 
tion. They have denied themselves, that nothing 
should be wanting to enable him to enter his profession 
under every advantage. They gloried in his talents, 
they exulted in the first buddings of his youthful prom- 
ise, and they were looking forward to the time when 
every labor should be repaid, and every self-denial 
rewarded, by the joys of that hour, when he should 
stand forth in all the blaze of well earned and indisput- 
able professional pre-eminence. Alas, these visions 
are less bright than once they were ! 

Enter that family circle. Behold those aged parents 
surrounded by children lovely and beloved. Within 
that circle reign peace, virtue, intelligence, and refine- 
ment. The evening has been spent in animated 
discussion, in harmless pleasantry, and in the sweet 
interchange of affectionate endearment. There is one 
who used to share all this, who was the centre of this 
circle. Why is he not Aere? Do professional engage- 
ments of late so estrange him from home ? The hour 
of devotion has arrived. They kneel before their 
Father and their God. A voice that used to minde 
in their praises is absent. An hour rolls away. Where 
now has all that cheerfulness fled ? Why does every 
effort to rally sink them deeper in despondency ? Why 



354 ADDRESS ON 

do those parents look so wistfully around, and why do 
they start at the sound of every footstep ? Another 
I hour has gone. That lengthened peal is too much for a 
\ mother's endurance. She can conceal the well known 
cause no longer. The question which no one answers 
is wrung from her lips, where, oh where, is my son ? 

The step of that son and brother is heard. The 
door is opened. He staggers in before them, and is 
stretched out at their feet, in all the loathsomeness of 
beastly intoxication. 

But yonder is a father, and a husband. Let us fol- 
low him to that house, no longer a home, where a 
lonely and heart broken wife sits cowering over the 
embers, and with her half starved oftspring, awaits with 
trembling the noise of his approach. Look at that 
woman. She was once a lovely and an honored bride, 
and she united her destinies with one who was then 
every way worthy of her affection. Look at those 
haggard and neglected children. They have tasted 
the sweets of competency, and have heard the soft 
accents of a father's love. And now look at that 
bloated and loathsome wretch, holding fast to the half 
opened door, at whose howl this whole group trembles. 
He was the object of that woman's love. He was the 
father of those helpless httle ones. But do not yet 
curse him. He was once as far removed from all this, 
as any one of you who now hear me. He once loved 
that wife, and doated on those children. The recollec- 
tion of these things has already enkindled the fires of 
hell in his bosom. The mark of Cain is upon him, 
and his punishment is even now greater than he can 
bear. But how came this fair fabric of happiness 



TEMPERANCE. 355 

crushed to so hopeless, so remediless a ruin? How 
came this father, this man of honest worth, and of af- 
fectionate sympathies, thus transformed into an abhorred 
and self-abhorring fiend ? Ah ! I need not say that 
there is but one cause sufficient to work so thorough, 
so awful a transformation. It is this moral suicide of 
which I have been speaking. W ^-^U - ^^^^\ 

You may shudder at this representation, and pity 
and abhor the victim of this vice. But those eighteen 
on whom the tower in Siloam fell and slew them, sup- 
pose ye that they were sinners, above all men that 
dwelt in Jerusalem, because they suffered such things ? 
Suppose ye that this man, thus debased and degraded, 
is the only one that is ruining his soul and destroying 
his family by indulgence in this sin ? Far, very far 
from it. The guilt lies at the door of many a man not 
yet sunk so low in degradation. The young man who 
every morning must walk abroad for his accustomed 
beverage, or who now and then spends an evening in a 
tippling cellar, or who occasionally rides away from 
town to indulge more covertly in excesses than would 
be possible at home, the man who by drinking impairs 
his memory and fosters that petulance which drives his 
customers away from him, yes, and the reputable citi- 
zen, who is now and then brought home by his com- 
panions from the social club, and with quiet secrecy 
put to rest for the night, upon each and upon all of 
them does this condemnation rest. ' Unless ye repent, 
ye shall all likewise perish.' 

It will not be necessary that I detain you long in 
referring to the effects which intemperance produces 
upon our civil relations. 



356 ADDRESS ON 

Society is constituted upon the principle, that every 
man's passions are to be restrained within such hmits, 
that they shall not interfere with the happiness of his 
neighbours. To restrain them within these limits, laws 
are enacted and penalties enforced. When the passions 
of men are indulged beyond this Hmit, we call it crime, 
and punish it accordingly. And every one must im- 
mediately perceive that to allow of the indulgence of 
passion, without this restriction, would be radically 
subversive of the first principles of society. 

Now from what I have already said of the effects of 
spirituous liquors in exciting the passions, and destroying 
the influence of reason and of conscience, it is at once 
evident that intemperance must be a fruitful source of 
every violation of our civil relations. Those acquainted 
with Courts of Justice have abundantly testified that 
such is the fact. Or, to appeal to every one's knowl- 
edge of human nature. How rarely do we see a man 
who, when perfectly sober, would break open a store ? 
Yet who is there, habituated to intemperance, that 
might not easily be wrought upon to do it ? How 
rarely do we find a man who, when sober, would delib- 
erately imbrue his hands in his brother's blood ? But 
who is there, when intoxicated, that might not, at any 
time perpetrate murder ? But I appeal to fact. 

Judge Hale, after twenty years' experience, declared: 
That if all the murders, and manslaughters, and burg- 
laries, and robberies, and riots, and tumults, and rapes, 
and other great enormities which had been committed 
within that time, were divided into five parts, four of 
them would be found to have been the result of Intem- 
perance. 



TEMPERANCE. 357 

The Sheriff of London and Middlesex has said, that 
the evil which lies at the root of all other evils is that 
especially of drinking ardent spirits ; that he had so 
long been in the habit of hearing criminals refer all 
their misery to this, that he had ceased to ask the cause 
of their ruin, so universally was it effected by spirituous 
liquors. 

Mr. Poinder, in a late examination before the British 
House of Commons, testified, that from facts which 
have fallen under his own observation, he was persuaded 
that in all trials for murder, with few if with any ex- 
ceptions, it would appear on investigation, that the 
criminal had, in the first instance, delivered up his mind 
to the brutalizing effects of spirituous liquors. 

At a late meeting of the London Temperance Soci- 
ety, the Solicitor General for Ireland remarked that a 
condemned criminal had stated, that the plan adopted 
in the commission of murder was, to get hold of some 
man fond of liquor, and having taken him to a public 
house, having there made him high in spirits, to reveal 
gradually the plan laid for robbery and murder, and 
then prevail on him to execute the fatal deed. First, 
hints would be thrown out, and then more explicit 
statements would be made, and he who at first shud- 
dered at the very thought of crime, would ultimately 
yield to the effects of liquor and persuasion, and con- 
sent to do the deadly act proposed to him."^ 

But why need I go abroad for instances, when our 

own town has so lately witnessed all that is terrific in 

the violation of civil order, and all that is melancholy 

in the sad necessity of arresting that violation by the 

* In the last Report of the American Temperance Society. 

31 



358 ADDRESS ON 

shedding of human blood ? Far be it from me to at- 
tempt the description of a scene from which we turn 
away with sorrow and with shame. Yet let me ask 
you, when the quiet of this beautiful town was disturbed 
by the shouts of a lawless and infuriated mob ; when 
you heard the shrieks of affright, and the roar of exul- 
tation, mingled with the crash of falling habitations ; 
when you heard the voice of the magistracy drowned 
amid the yells of bitter execration ; when the air was 
rent with oaths, and obscenity, and blasphemy, which 
fell upon the ear of the shuddering hstener even in the 
remotest suburbs of the town ; when you heard at last 
the sharp peal of musquetry, follow^ed by that awful 
stillness, w^hich was interrupted only by the long draw^n 
sigh and the gurgling death-groan ; tell me, my fellow 
citizens, was there a single act in all that sad, sad trag- 
edy, which did not most solemnly admonish us, of the 
suicidal effects upon society, of an unrestricted use of 
intoxicating liquors ? It was all the deed of hum. 

On this part of the subject I feel that I need not 
longer detain you. I will proceed to consider the 
ECONOMICAL cfFects of the use of intoxicating liquors. 

I ask, then, who is the gainer by this vice? — If 
there be a gain, it must be made either by the buyer 
or the seller. 

Is the luyer the gainer ? 

It is abundantly proved, by the testimony of the most 
skilful physicians, that the use of ardent spirits is, to say 
the best of it, productive of no benefit to man. What- 
ever, therefore, is spent in this manner, is money spent 
without yielding any return. But money, expended 
without yielding any return, might as well be thrown 



TEMPERANCE. 359 

away. On the most favourable supposition, therefore 
the buyer is no more the gainer than he would be if 
he daily cast the money which he spends in drinking 
into mid ocean. 

But this is by far too favourable a supposition. It 
would be infinitely better for him were he so to cast it 
away, just as it would be better for a man to throw 
away his money, than to buy with it a torch to set fire 
to his own dwelling. The drunkard gives his money 
for a poison which takes away the power as well as the 
desire to labor ; which so stupifies the intellect that 
the very labor done is profitless ; which takes away 
every stimulant to honorable exertion ; which in a few 
years reduces the body to helpless decrepitude, and 
invariably consigns it to an early grave ; which teaches 
a family a lesson of profligacy and vice, and brings 
them up in habits of indolence and expense. That 
can be no gain to a man which changes health to sick- 
ness, industry to indolence, frugahty to expensiveness, 
cheerfulness to gloom, competence to poverty, inde- 
pendence to beggary, and the joys of a happy fireside 
to the misery of an almshouse. 

I ask, in the second place, is the seller the gainer ? 

Here I need only advert to a principle of economy, 
so simple that a child may understand it, in order to 
render this whole subject entirely plain. The seller 
never parts with any thing without an equivalent. He 
would never grow rich by giving his property away. 
This equivalent must he procured by the buyer, or else 
he cannot purchase. The buyer can procure it only 
as the result, direct or indirect, of labor. Whatever, 
therefore, enables the buyer to lahor morc^ or to labor 



360 ADDRESS ON 

to better advantage, vrAX enable him to buy more and 
to pay better ; whatever, on the contrary, disables him 
fi'om labor, or renders that labor less valuable, obliges 
him to buy less, and to pay less punctually, — Now ail 
this is, I think, as e\-ident as language can make it. I 
ask, then, whether a seller can be the gainer by dispos- 
ing of that which must every day diminish the power 
of his customei^ to labor, and thus take away, and at 
last destroy altogether, their abihty to purchase. 

To place the subject in a practical light. Suppose 
yourself to be situated in a pleasant, healthy, and fiiigal 
neighborhood, and to have a good and pemianent circle 
of custom. Would it be for your advantage for some 
one to come and sell a dmg, vdiich should poison the 
families in that neighborhood r Would it be for }'our 
advantage, if he should inoculate them with the plague 
or the small pox, and thus drive away your neighboi*s, 
and 50 terrify the to\Mi that none but paupei^ would 
ever come and live near you again ? Would it be for 
your advantage for some one to come and introduce 
leprosy among your customers, thus consigning them 
to long years of uselessness, during which you must 
support them, and leaving to you the charge of 
supporting thek leprous families ? I ask then, is it for 
your advantage to do this yourself^ Aie you not en- 
tailing upon them all these evils, by selling ai'dent 
spirits ? I ask then, how can you by such a business 
be a gainer ? 

But to biing this to a plain case. I ^^ill suppose 
you a retail dealer, and that you gain an honest liveli- 
hood by supplying your neighboi^ ^^ith the various 
articles necessary for domestic consumption. I will 



TEMPERANCE. 361 

suppose you to have among your customers, two fami- 
lies, in the same business, each containing the same 
number of individuals. They are now in every respect 
upon an equahty, both being supported by labor, and 
both growing richer by frugality. — Suppose that one 
family begins to use twenty cents worth of ardent spirits 
daily, and continues to do so for ten years to come ; the 
other family abstains from the use of ardent spirits alto- 
gether. Compare the results, and inquire which of 
them, during this period, will prove to be your most 
profitable customer. 

Twenty cents a day is seventy-three dollars a year. 
This annual sum, at simple interest, amounts in ten 
years to about one thousand dollars. This is no trifle 
to be subtracted from the earnings of a laboring man. 
But pursue the history of this family. In two or three 
years, the man becomes diseased. He is frequently 
affected with rheumatism, and cold, and fever, and 
headach, and cannot perform his accustomed labor. 
He does not find employment as readily as formerly, 
and in a year or two more he complains that the times 
have become hard. He is often destitute of fuel and 
of provisions, and finds difficulty in meeting his pay- 
ments with punctuality. His children are badly clad, 
and his house is in bad repair. Presently, as a neces- 
sary consequence, sickness ensues, and the cost of 
medical attendance is added to his other expenses. 
Things thus go on worse and worse, until, before the 
ten years have elapsed, he has been frequently arrested, 
his business is destroyed, he is in debt to every one 
who will trust him, and at last, his family is broken up, 
his children are scattered, and most probably are vaga- 
31* 



362 ADDRESS ON 

bonds, and you find his name on your catalogue of bad 
debtors, with a sum set against it sufficient to over-bal- 
ance all the profits of his last five years' custom. 

Now take the case of the family that does not drink. 
The money spent by their neighbors in drinking is suf- 
ficient, in ten years, to buy a house, and if placed at 
interest, would pay the rent of one. By health, and 
frugality, and industry, their means increase every year, 
and are thus becoming every year the instrument of 
more rapid accumulation. As their ability to purchase 
increases, they become every year more and more 
extensive purchasers ; and as their character rises in 
public estimation, they will certainly be better pay-mas- 
ters. Their children grow up habituated to fi:ugality 
and industry, and find their faculties daily expanded by 
enjoying the blessings of a good education. They are 
soon advantageously settled in life, and the happiness 
of home attracts them to their own neigborhood. You 
have thus a family of increasing competence for your 
customers, and all their younger branches growing up 
to become your customers, your acquaintances, your 
friends. 

I ask, which of these two families is your preferable 
customer ? By which of these two, at the end of ten 
years, will you have been the greater gainer ? Now, 
by arresting extensively the sale of ardent spirits, in a 
moral, well instructed community like our own, almost 
all the families around you will be like the latter which 
I have described. By the use of spirituous liquors, a 
very great proportion of them will be made like the 
former. I ask then, is the seller the gainer by the use 
of ardent spirits ? 



I 



TEMPERANCE. 363 

But, it will be said, that these remarks apply merely 
to the retailer. Is not the wholesale trade profitable ? 
I answer, how can the wholesale dealer be paid, but 
by the produce of the labor of the community. What- 
ever diminishes that labor, or renders it less productive, 
diminishes the ability of the laborers to consume, and 
renders them worse customers. What merchant would 
not rather supply with the articles of living, a rich than 
a poor district ; a temperate than an intemperate town ? 
Let the wholesale dealer then remember, that every 
cask of ardent spirits which he sends into the district 
from which his custom comes, annihilates forever a 
large portion of the power which that district possesses 
to purchase flour, and sugar, and tea, and coffee, and 
all the other necessaries and luxuries of life. — And 
yet more ; if this trade be thus unprofitable to the 
dealer in ardent spirits himself, how much more de- 
structive must it be to the manufacturer, and to all who 
are engaged in those branches of industry which furnish 
us with apparel ? The dealer in spirits loses much, 
but has some prospect of gain. The manufacturer 
suflers from the diminution of consumption, produced 
by the sale of liquor, and has not even the shadow of 
an equivalent. 

But once more. The unprofitableness of the use of 
ardent spirits is capable of numerical demonstration. 
It is computed that the annual consumption of ardent 
spirits in this country equals seventy-two millions of 
gallons, at sixty-six and two-thirds cents per gallon, or 
forty-eight millions of dollars. Now of this forty-eight 
millions, it cannot be supposed that more than half is 
profit to the seller. But it is calculated by Jud^e 



364 ADDRESS OX 

Cranch, of Washington, a most competent authority, 
that the annual loss to this country by the use of ardent 
spirits, amounts to ninety-four millions of dollars. If 
from this we subtract the gain of what is sold, or twen- 
ty-four millions of dollars, it will leave seventy millions 
of dollars loss to the whole, for every twenty-four mill- 
ions gain from the use of intoxicating liquors. But if 
we reflect that those who gain this twenty-four millions 
w^ould gain more by abandoning the trade altogether, 
and selling something else, which is the fact, it is clear 
that the whole ninety-four millions of dollars is fairly 
charo^ed to us for our indulo^ence in this \ice."^ 

I ask then, who is the gainer by the use of ardent 
spirits ? Is the buyer the gainer ? No. Is the retail 
dealer ? No. Is the wholesale dealer ? No. No 
one is gainer. We are all losers. It is a vice by 
which we are all gro\^'ing poorer. 

I come then, in the last place, to consider the prac- 
tical question which arises on this subject. Is the 

TRADE IN ARDENT SPIRITS RIGHT? 

Here allow me to offer two suggestions. 

First. I stand here to condemn no man, but to set 
before you all, the truth, so far as I can discover it, 
upon a question of duty. That many excellent and 
worthv men are eno:ao;ed in this trade, I do not doubt. 
Far be it from me to detract in the least from their 
reputation for excellence. They may never have 
thought seriously on this subject. They may not have 
been allowed sufficient time to decide upon a question 
involving a large portion of their business. What the 
particular moral state of any man's mind is, on a subject 
* Report of the Am. Temperance Society. 



TEMPERANCE. 365 

like this, I pretend not to decide, nor ought any one 
else to be forward to decide upon it. Yet this is no 
reason why the moral nature of the act should not be 
fully and clearly set forth. Upon this subject we have 
been all of us either in the right or in the wrong. 
Neither supposition will afford sufficient reason why 
the nature of our actions should not be examined. A 
good man may do wrong, but a good man will always 
listen with candor to any one who will show him how 
he may do right. 

Secondly. I do not stand up here to inquire into 
the rectitude of any particular branch of this trade, but 
into the rectitude of the whole trade itself. I have to 
do with wholesale as well as with retail dealers. If it 
be wrong to sell a httle, it seems to me that it must also 
be wrong to sell a great deal. If it be wrong to be 
accessary to the destruction of one neighborhood, it 
seems to me that it must be wrong to be accessary to 
the destruction of a great many neighborhoods. I 
reason here as we do about the slave trade. If it 
be wrong to import one slave, it is wrong to import a 
cargo. 

I ask then the candid attention of my fellow citizens 
to the following questions. 

First. Can it be right for me to derive my living 
from that which is spreading disease, and poverty, and 
premature death throughout my neighborhood ? How 
would it be in any similar case ? Would it be right 
for me to derive my living from selling poison, or from 
propagating plague, or leprosy around me ? 

Second. Can it be right for me to derive my living 
from that which is debasing the minds and ruining the 



366 ADDRESS ON 

souls of my neighbors ? How would it be in any other 
case ? Would it be right for me to derive my living 
from the sale of a drug which produced misery or 
madness, or from the sale of obscene books which ex- 
cited the passions, and brutalized the minds, and ruined 
the souls of my fellow men ? 

Third. Can it be right for me to derive my li\'ing 
fi'om that which destroys forever the happiness of the 
domestic circle, — which is filling the land with women 
and children in a condition far more deplorable than 
that of widows and orphans ? 

Fourth. Can it be right for me to derive my living 
fi-om that which is known to be the cause of nine-tenths 
of all the crimes which are perpetrated against society ? 

Fifth. Can it be right for me to derive my living 
from that which brings upon society nine-tenths of all 
the pauperism which exists, and which the rest of the 
community are obliged to pay for ? 

Sixth. Can it be right for me to derive my living 
from that which accomplishes all these at once, and 
which does it without ceasing ? 

Do you say that you do not know that the liquor 
which you sell will produce these results ? Do you 
not know that nine hundred and ninety-nine gallons 
produce these effects for one which is used innocently r 
I ask, then, 

Seventh. Would it be right for me to sell poison 
on the ground that there was one chance in a thousand 
that the purchaser would not die of it ? 

Eighth. Do you say that you are not responsible 
for the acts of your neighbor ? Is this clearly so ? Is 
not he who knowinf]:lv famishes a murderer with a 



TEMPERANCE. 357 

weapon, considered an accomplice ? Is not he who 
navigates a slave ship considered a pirate ? On this 
subject, however, I will take the liberty to introduce 
an anecdote, which will show at once the awful nature 
of this trade, and also the manner in which the respon- 
sibility which it involves affects the conscience of a 
child. A deacon of a Christian church was in the 
habit of selling rum to one of his customers, a man 
habitually intemperate. The wife of the drunkard 
besought the deacon, for her own sake and for the 
sake of her children, not to sell liquor to her husband, 
for that she and her children could not endure his 
treatment. At last, this husband and father went home 
drunk one night from the deacon's store, and murdered 
his wife. One of the deacon's children, hearing of 
this murder and the circumstances, said to his father, 
' Father, do you not think that, in the day of judgment, 
you will have to answer for that murder ?' Such was 
the decision of the child. Can any of us gainsay it ?* 

If these things be so, and that they are so^, who can 
dispute, I ask you, my respected fellow citizens, what 
is to be done ? Let me ask, is not this traffic alto- 
gether wrong ? Why, then, should we not altogether 
abandon it ? 

I do believe that to do so would be a vast pecuniary 
gain, and an unspeakable moral benefit to this town 
and to this State. Let this town set the example, and 
thus prove to the world tliat we liave derived a lesson 
of instruction from our late solemn visitation, and tliat 
we mean in earnest to prevent its recurrence. Hus- 
bands and fathers, what is your reply ? 

^ Last Rep. of the Am. Temperance Society. 



368 ADDRESS ON TEMPERANCE. 

Who of US will from this day abandon this traffic ? 
Who of us will purchase no more spirituous liquors ? 
Who of us will enter into an agreement to commence 
the coming year with an entire abandonment of the 
trade in intoxicating liquors ? I know of no reason 
why, in a very few days, we may not witness this town 
purified from this iniquity. 

If any man think otherwise and choose to continue 
it, I have but one word to say. My brother, when 
you order a cargo of intoxicating drink, think how 
much misery you are importing into the community. 
As you store it up, think how many curses you are 
heaping together against yourself. As you roll it out 
of your warehouse, think how many families each cask 
will ruin. Let your thoughts then revert to your own 
fiieside, to your wife, and to your little ones ; look 
upward to Him who judgeth righteously, and ask your- 
self, my brother. Is this right ? 



NOTES. 



Appendix to the Second Edition of "Discourses on 
THE Duties of an Ax\ierican Citizen." 

Since the publication of the first edition of these Discourses, 
a few ideas have been suggested to the Author, which, rather 
than alter the text, he begs leave to throw together in the 
form of an Appendix. 

1. Several of the literary journals in which the "Discourses " 
have been very kindly noticed, have intimated, that the reflec- 
tions upon the Catholic church are somewhat illiberal. If this 
be so, no one would regret it more sincerely than the author. 
He can only say, that he has for some time past reflected with 
deep interest upon every thing, which in the course of his 
reading has seemed to throw any light upon the policy of that 
branch of the Christian community. No man reveres more 
sincerely than himself, the memory of very many members of 
that church. Pascal, Fenelon, and a host of other catholics, 
have done honor to human nature. But after granting all this, 
the author has been driven to the opinions concerning the 
general design of the Holy See, which are expressed in the 
Discourses. He thinks he may say, that if he has erred, he 
has erred honestly, and has been peculiarly unfortunate in the 
sources from which he has derived his information. If it be 
said that the views which he has taken be such as were only 
correct two or three centuries ago, he would refer to " White's 
Letters from Spain," to the late Papal bulls, and to the facts 
on this subject which are constantly going the round of our 
daily journals. And finally, if he be wrong, he can say sin- 
cerely, he will be grateful to any one who will direct him to 
the facts which may serve to correct his error. 
32 



370 NOTES. 

2. There are, however, a few topics, in the Discourses, 
of which the bearing may possibly be rendered more correct 
by some explanatory remarks. 

It is perhaps asserted too strongly, that, a republican form 
of government is essential to civil liberty. Now if liberty be 
really " liberty to speak and think and to influence other minds 
to the full extent of the individual's power," the example of 
England is sufficient to convince us that this may be enjoyed 
under a monarchical government. No where is a public opin- 
ion more perfectly formed ; and scarcely in our own govern- 
ment is it more implicitly obeyed. It would be, perhaps, more 
correct to say, that republican institutions are the most con- 
genial to civil liberty ; that unless they enter some way or 
other into the form of the government, civil liberty will not 
long be maintained, and that every government in which 
public opinion is formed, is gradually approximating towards 
them. So far as we now see, republican institutions seem 
best adapted to human nature in its most improved state. In 
the farther progress of mind, what other forms may be devised, 
or what different forms other states of society may require, 
cannot possibly be known. The present is pre-eminently an 
age of experiment, and centuries must roll away before the 
full result of any one of them can be definitely ascertained. 
It is therefore evident, that we need great caution in deciding 
abstractedly upon any thing, which relates to the present rap- 
idly changing aspects of human character. 

The Author intended, in revising the first edition for the 
press, to have made some remarks upon the position which 
Great Britain at present occupies in regard to the question of 
civil and religious liberty. He had indeed prepared something 
on the subject, but was deterred from inserting it, partly from 
the fear of prolonging the discussion, and partly from the fact, 
that if the influence of Great Britain were considered at all as 
it deserved, it would not only have enlarged, but materially 
have changed, the field of remark. His object was to illustrate 
some of the duties of an American citizen, and to the consid- 
eration of this he felt himself somewhat restricted. He would 
only say here, that most evidently the cause of civil and re- 
ligious liberty is a cause common to both countries. Great 
Britain is evidently pledged to the support of free institutions ; 



NOTES. Q*2l 

and if ever they are systematically attacked, the burden of 
their defence mast rest on her equally with ourselves. And 
surely we could not desire a more noble alliance. In no 
country is public sentiment more disinterested or more honor- 
able. Perhaps in none is the progress of improvement more 
equable and more rapid. Her counsels are directed by a man 
worthy to be the successor of the first Earl of Chatham, and 
whose title to the proudest eminence in the political world is, 
that in the opinion of the wise and good of every nation he 
honestly deserves it. These things surely augur well for the 
cause of freedom and of man. 

In closing this hasty article, the Author feels it his duty to 
add, that for whatever in it is worthy of notice, he is indebted 
to the friendly remarks of a gentleman of his own profession 
in this city, whose opinions are respected wherever the English 
language is spoken, and whose name, were it mentioned in 
this connexion, would give to this feeble effort to do good, a 
value far greater than any to which it would otherwise be 
entitled. 



(A.) Page 43. 
In confirmation of these remarks, it may not be amiss to 
state the following facts. The Gentleman's Magazine was, 
until about thirty years since, almost the only extensively 
circulated periodical pamphlet in Great Britain. In this de- 
partment of literature are now numbered, The Edinburgh and 
Quarterly Reviews ; Westminster Review; Blackwood's, The 
Scotsman's, Monthly, New Monthly, Gentleman's, and Sport- 
ing Magazines ; The Christian Observer ; Eclectric Review ; 
Universal Review ; The Etonian ; The Oxonian ; Ackerman's 
Repository ; Retrospective Review ; London Magazine ; 
Baldwin's Magazine ; The Churchman ; Evangelical Maga- 
zine ; Mechanic's Magazine ; The Literary Chronicle ; Lite- 
rary Gazette ; The Kaleidoscope ; Newcastle Magazine ; 
British Critic ; Pamphleteer ; Classical Journal ; Christian 
Guardian ; Cottager's Magazine ; Farmer's Magazine ; Sunday 
School Magazine ; European Magazine ; Imperial Magazine ; 
Literary Magnet ; Knight's Quarterly Magazine ; four Botan- 
ical Journals, monthly ; three of general science, quarterly ; 



372 NOTES. 

besides several other scientific and professional periodical 
works. Some of these are ably edited, and most of them well 
supported. The largest works print from five to fourteen 
thousand copies. 

Upon the eight morning and six evening papers in London, 
there are no less than 150 literary gentlemen employed, at an 
expense of £1000 per week ; for workmen, £1500 per week ; 
and £1500 more for the literary labors of the weekly and semi- 
weekly papers. There are on an average, 250 provincial 
papers. 300,000 papers are ordinarily printed in London 
weekly, and 200,000 in the country ; total, 500,000. The 
whole amount of the expenses of the British newspaper press 
is estimated at £721,266 per annum. The total number of 
newspaper stamps issued in Great Britain, for the year 1821, 
was 24,779,786. 

From these facts we may form some idea of the demand for 
information in Great Britain. But one other fact may convince 
us that the number of readers very far exceeds the number of 
printed papers. " It is there a custom for carriers to set out in 
all directions daily, and let papers out to customers, for a few 
moments to each, as they proceed, until night ; so that a 
hundred persons may read or rather glance over the same 
paper for a penny each." 

" There are but few papers published in the departments of 
France ; but those in the metropolis, publish an enormous 
number. The Constitutionel publishes 19,000; the Journal 
des Debats, 14,000, and the other papers from that to 5,000." 
It is probable that the ratio of improvement in many nations 
on the continent of Europe is not very far beneath that of 
Great Britain. 

(B.) Page 64. 

" The following are a few of the subjects of the political 
essays of the Censor (a periodical paper published at Buenos 
Ayres) in 1817 : An explanation of the Constitution of the 
United States, and highly praised — The Lancastrian System 
of Education — On the causes of the prosperity of the United 
States — Milton's essay on the liberty of the press — A review 
of the work of the late President Adams on the American 
Constitutions, and a recommendation of checks and balances, 
continued through several numbers, and abounding with much 



NOTES. 373 

useful information for the people — Brief notice of the life of 
James Monroe, President of the United States — Examination 
of the federative system — On the trial by Jury — On popular 
elections — On the effect of enlightened productions on the 
condition of mankind — An analysis of the several State con- 
stitutions of the Union, &c. 

" There are in circulation, Spanish translations of many of 
our best revolutionary writings. The most common are two 
miscellaneous volumes, one, containing Paine's common sense 
and rights of man, and declaration of Independence, several of 
our constitutions, and General Washington's farewell address. 
The other is an abridged history of the United States, down 
to the year 1810, with a good explanation of the nature of our 
political institutions, accompanied with a translation of Mr. 
Jefferson's inaugural speech, and other State papers. I believe 
these have been read by nearly all who can read, and have 
produced a most extravagant admiration of the United States, 
at the same time, accompanied with something like des- 
pair." — Breckenridge^s South America, Vol. II. pp. 213, 214. 
[From Professor Everett's Oration at Plymouth.] 

(C.) Page 70. 

In illustration of these remarks, it may be interesting to 
state the following facts. " Not one of the eleven new States 
has been admitted into the Union without provision in its con- 
stitution for Schools, Academies, Colleges, and Universities. 
In most of the original States large sums in money are appro- 
priated to education. And they claim a share in the great 
landed investments which are mortgaged to it in the new 
States. Reckoning those contributions, federal and local, it 
may be asserted, that nearly as much as the whole national 
expenditure of the United States is set apart by the laws for 
enlightening the people. Besides more than half a million at 
public schools, there are considerably more than 3000 under- 
graduates matriculated at the various colleges and universities 
authorized to confer academical degrees." — IngersoWs Oration 
before the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 

It is, however, evident, from the returns of the State of New 
York alone, that the above estimate of Mr. Ingersoll is vastly 
below the truth. Governor Clinton in his late message states, 



374 NOTES. 

that " the number of children taught in our common schools 
during the last year, exceeds 400,000 ; and is probably more 
than one fourth of our whole population. The students in the 
incorporated academies amount to 2,683 ; and in the Colleges 
to 755." It is very rare to find a person born in New England, 
who cannot both read and write. The late Judge Reeve, of 
the Supreme Court of Connecticut, declared, that in the whole 
of his professional practice, he had found but thi^ee persons in 
that State who could not sign their names, and that all of them 
were foreigners. 

(D.) Page 71. 

" A republican government is certainly most congenial with 
the nature, most propitious to the welfare, and most conducive 
to the dignity of our species. Man becomes degraded in pro- 
portion as he loses the right of self-government. Every effort 
ought therefore to be made to fortify our free institutions, and 
the great bulwark of security is to be formed in education ; 
the culture of the heart and the head ; the diffusion of knowledge, 
piety, and morality. A virtuous and enlightened man can 
never submit to degradation, and a virtuous and enlightened 
people will never breathe in the atmosphere of slavery. Upon 
education, then, we must rely for the purity, the preservation, 
and the perpetuation of Republican government. In this 
sacred cause, we cannot exercise too much liberality. It is 
identified with our best interests in this world, and with our 
best destinies in the world to come." — Gov. Clinton'^s la^t 
Message. 

(E.) Page 131. 

To the argument in the preceding sermon, it has been ob- 
jected, that the author has not considered the obstacle to the 
triumph of the Gospel, arising from that depravity of the human 
heart, which can only be overcome by the agency of the Spirit 
of God. To this objection, the answer is briefly as follows. 
The argument is addressed either to believers, or unbelievers. 
To the Christian, the declaration of God in the Scriptures, 
that the whole world shall be converted, is a full and sufficient 
warrant for entire belief. Those on the contrary who do not 
believe the Bible, cannot urge, as an objection, such a sort of 
depravity, for this is a doctrine of thdit rev elation, whose author- 



NOTES. 375 

ity they utterly disclaim. Or, if they urge it as an objection 
drawn from books which we believe, we are, by all the rules 
of reasoning allowed to meet them with a statement of the 
revealed doctrine of the sovereign and efficacious influences 
of the Holy Spirit, which is abundantly sufficient to overcome 
all the obstacles arising from the opposition of a sinner's heart. 
As, therefore, the very mention of the objection, brings with 
it its own antidote, it was not in the body of the discourse 
brought into the account. 

(F.) Page 154. 
The author hopes that this remark, and those of a similar 
kind which may occur throughout the discourse, will not lead 
to the conclusion, that he entertains any unwarrantable notions 
on the subject of human agency. On this point, his opinions 
have long been fixed. He most confidently believes that all 
power, efficiency, re£\i causation in the universe, is the work 
of God, and God alone ; and that what is considered causation 
in man, is merely stated antecedency, yet a sort of stated an- 
tecedency which allows of wide range for motive, and to 
which all the language applied to it in the Holy Scriptures 
and elsewhere, is strictly appropriate, or suited to the nature 
of the thing. It seems, also, to him, too obvious for even re- 
mark, that the agency or causation of the creature, and of the 
Creator, are so essentially dissimilar, that there is really no 
danger of their interference with each other; and therefore, 
that urging a creature to labor a great deal, is no more likely 
to infringe upon the prerogative of the Creator, than urging 
him not to labor at all. 

(G.) Page 327. 
It was remarked by Lord Bacon, Mathesin, philosophiam 
naturalem terminare debere, non generare aut procreare. It 
is the office of the mathematics to determine truth in natural 
philosophy, not to create or produce it. See Maclaurin's pre- 
face to his Vieiv of Sir Isaac JVeivton^s Philosophy, p. 31), 8vo. 

(II.) Page 330. 
A man conversant with physics and chemistry is much more 
likely than a stranger to these studies to form probal)lo con- 
jectures concerning those laws of nature which yet remain to 



-«- 



376 NOTES. ^^ 

be explained. There is a certain character or style (if I may 
use the expression) in the operations of Divine Wisdom ; 
something which every where announces, amidst an infinite 
variety of detail, an inimitable unity and harmony of design ; 
and in the perception of which, philosophical sagacity and 
genius seems chiefly to consist. It is this which bestows a 
value so inestimable upon the genius of Newton. Stewart^s 
Philosophy, Vol. 2, p. 223. Boston. 1821. 

(I.) Page 343. 
I shall only add to what has been now stated on the head of 
analogy, that the numberless references and dependencies 
between the material and the moral worlds, exhibited within 
the narrow sphere of our observation on this globe, encourage 
and even authorize us to conclude, that they both form parts 
of one and the same plan ; a conclusion congenial to the best 
and noblest principles of our nature, and which all the discov- 
eries of genuine science unite in confirming. Nothing, indeed, 
could be more inconsistent with that irresistible disposition 
which prompts every philosophical inquirer to argue from the 
known to the unknown, than to suppose that, while ail the 
different bodies which compose the material uniYerse are man- 
ifestly related to each other, as parts of a connected whole, the 
moral events which happen on our planet are quite insulated ; 
and that the rational beings who inhabit it, and for whom we 
may reasonably presume it was brought into existence, have 
no relation whatever to other intelligent and moral natures. 
The presumption unquestionably is, that there is one great 
moral system corresponding to the TwcrfeTToZ system, and that B 
the connexions which we at present trace so distinctly among 
the sensible objects composing the one, are exhibited as so 
many intimations of some vast scheme, comprehending all the 
beings who compose the other. In this argument, as well as 
in numberless others which analogy suggests in favor of our 
future prospects, the evidence is precisely of the same sort 
with that which first encouraged Newton to extend his physical 
speculations beyond the limits of the earth. Ibid, pp. 234-5. 



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